Selecting only those items of data that support a theoretical concept is called

Thesis hunting is selecting only the data that support a favoured theoretical concept while ignoring the rest.

It biases the study because contrary evidence is deliberately left out of the analysis.

Data selectivity as worded is a vague description, not the accepted term for this fault.

Idea preference is not a recognised methodological concept.

Concept choice refers merely to picking constructs, not to biased data selection.

This practice is a form of confirmation bias and undermines the validity of the findings.