Civil Service Open Selection (China) - independent foundations flashcards

30 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Baseline

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

Output

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

Outcome

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

Attribution

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

Stakeholder

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

Implementation dependency

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

Indicator

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

Aggregation

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

Confounding

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

Selection bias

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

Counterexample

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

Necessary condition

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

Sufficient condition

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

Evidence traceability

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

Root-cause hypothesis

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

Accessibility

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

Public communication

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

Decision criterion

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

Monitoring

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

Argument map

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

Stakeholder mapping

An analysis of affected or influential groups and their interests, dependencies, power and exposure, used to support engagement and decision reasoning.

Benefit realization

Assessment of whether an implemented change produces the intended outcomes, distinct from confirming that the project delivered an output.

Span of control

The number of employees reporting directly to one manager. Its width can affect workload, communication and supervision, but does not alone determine every layer or the degree of delegation.

Hierarchical structure

An organisational design with several layers of management and a clear chain of command from senior to junior staff. It offers clear authority and promotion paths but can slow communication and raise costs.

Delayering

Removing one or more levels of management from an organisation's hierarchy to cut costs and shorten communication channels. It widens spans of control and may reduce promotion opportunities, affecting morale.

Delegation

Passing authority to a subordinate to carry out a task while the manager keeps overall accountability. It develops staff and frees managers' time but risks poor decisions if training and control are inadequate.

Recruitment

The process of identifying a vacancy and attracting suitable applicants, through internal promotion or external methods such as advertising and agencies. The chosen method affects cost, speed and the quality of candidates.

Job description

A document stating the duties, responsibilities and reporting relationships of a post. It is used to advertise a vacancy and to set expectations, and it supports later appraisal and training decisions.

Person specification

A profile of the qualifications, skills, experience and personal qualities required for a job. It helps shortlist applicants objectively and reduces bias, though poorly written criteria can exclude suitable candidates.

Selection

Choosing the best applicant for a vacancy using tools such as interviews, tests, references and assessment centres. Reliable selection reduces costly staff turnover but methods vary in validity and expense.