Replication and Reproducibility in Social Sciences and Statistics: Context, Concerns, and Concrete Measures
Replicability is at the core of the scientific enterprise. In the past 30 years, recurring concerns about the extent of replicability (or lack thereof) of the research in various disciplines have surfaced, including in economics.
In this talk, I describe the context in which the current discussion in the social science is occurring: what are the definitions of replicability and reproducibility, what is failing, and to what extent. In particular, I discuss the concerns in economics: to what extent is this a problem in economics, what are the approaches that are being considered, and what are the possible broader implications of those approaches. Finally, I discuss the concrete measures that are being implemented under my guidance at the American Economic Association, and that are being discussed in the broader economics community.
The solutions to these problems will change the way research will be taught and conducted, in economics in particular, and in the social sciences more broadly. The implications affect undergraduate and graduate teaching, research infrastructure, and habits.
Note about archived versions: Each presentation is slightly different, and they do not necessarily replace each other. They are simply chronologically registered on Zenodo for archival purposes.
Sometimes whe I have given the talk, I have had attendees fill out a questionnaire. The printed version of the questionnaire is here, the online link various (and is valid only for each presentation).
2019-01-28: UCLA
2019-02-01: Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS)
2019-02-13: UGA
2019-02-21: Montreal Applied Micro Workshop
2019-03-28: Conférence sur les données sécurisées françaises et allemandes sur l'emploi (short, in French)
2019-04-05: UQAM Workshop "Using Administrative Data to Inform Public Policy"
2019-06-10: ÉCOLE D'ÉTÉ SUR LES ENJEUX ÉTHIQUES ET JURIDIQUES DE LA DIFFUSION DES DONNÉES (in French)
2019-06-13: Ludwigs-Maximilians-Universität München Economics Faculty and Open Science Center
2019-06-29: Western Economic Association's 94TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE
2019-09-04: University of Wisconsin-Madison, Center for Demography and Ecology, and Center for Demography of Health and Aging
2019-09-06: FSRDC conference 2019 @ University of Wisconsin-Madison (with emphasis on restricted-access data)
2019-09-11: American Enterprise Institute/ Policy Simulation Library
2019-09-24: IAB-Colloquium zur Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung, Nürnberg, Germany (in German)
- 2019-10-01 and 2019-10-02 Centre interuniversitaire québécois de statistiques sociales (CIQSS) (short course with hands-on training, English and French)
