FWIW, I realise I didn't phrase it correctly. What I wanted to say was that any non-terrible ("half decent") study does not attempt to draw a final, black or white (I wrongly used "rigorous") conclusion, but that mainstream media will do that instead by choosing a particular interpretation of the study results.

I did not want to imply that social science studies are non-rigorous, I was actually trying to defend their scientific nature, but with an incorrect phrasing.