Guokao Xingce - independent foundations key terms

The reference condition against which later observations are compared, requiring compatible definitions, populations, periods and measurement procedures.

A direct activity or product delivered by an organization, distinct from its effect on the people receiving the service.

A change experienced by a relevant population or system, which must be measured separately from the count of administrative activities.

A supported claim about the contribution of an intervention to a change compared with an appropriate alternative explanation or counterfactual.

A person or group affected by, contributing to or holding a relevant interest in a decision and its implementation.

A resource, capability, decision or preceding action that must be available for a proposed task to operate as intended.

An explicitly defined measure used to monitor a relevant condition, with its numerator, denominator, observation period and limitations specified.

Combining observations into a summary while preserving compatible units and avoiding the concealment of important differences between groups.

A situation in which another factor affects the apparent relationship under study and obstructs a straightforward causal interpretation.

Systematic differences in who enters an observed sample that can make its results misleading for the intended population.

A concrete instance satisfying a set of premises while contradicting a claimed necessary conclusion, thereby defeating that necessity claim.

A condition that must hold if another proposition is true, without necessarily being sufficient to produce that proposition.

A condition whose occurrence entails the specified conclusion within the stated rule, without necessarily being required in every case.

The ability to connect a substantive conclusion to an identified observation, source statement or explicitly qualified analytical inference.

A proposed underlying mechanism that explains a problem and still requires evidence distinguishing it from plausible competing explanations.

The practical ability of intended users to reach and use a service, including barriers that an overall efficiency average may hide.

Information prepared for an affected audience that clearly separates verified facts, present uncertainty, available assistance and any authorized next steps.

A specified consideration used to evaluate alternatives, such as effectiveness, resource use, distributional consequences or accountability under supplied constraints.

Repeated observation of defined indicators during implementation, useful for detecting change but not automatically establishing causal attribution.

An organized representation of a thesis, supporting reasons, evidence and objections that makes missing inferential links easier to identify.