Project Phase 1 (2022-2025)

Subproject " Enhancing Reproducibility and Robustness of Observational Social Science Research"

Project duraction: 04/2022 - 03/2025
Project Leads: Prof. Dr. Karin Auspurg, Dr. Andreas Scheck
Team Members: Laura Schächtele, Daniel Krähmer
Funded by the DFG (Project No. 464507200)

Research Objectives and Work Plan: As part of the DFG Priority Programme META-REP, Prof. Auspurg and Dr. Schneck have successfully acquired DFG funding for a project focusing on the robustness and sensitivity of findings based on non-experimental data in the social sciences.

The aim of this project is to develop diagnostic tools—particularly those based on computer-assisted statistical analyses such as multiverse or multi-model analyses—to assess the robustness of research findings against varying model and sample specifications. In a second phase, these tools will be used to conduct a systematic assessment of the robustness and thus credibility of articles published in leading social science journals and/or based on data from the European Social Survey (ESS).

An initial step involves verifying whether the results of these articles can be reproduced using the original code provided by the authors. Additionally, this assessment will be complemented by initial analyses of risk and incentive structures that may encourage more or less credible social science—drawing on theories from analytical sociology and quantitative science studies.

Another goal of the project is to develop evidence-based tools and recommendations for promoting robust and credible findings within the framework of more transparent open science practices (including proposals for new publication formats).

Publication:
Krähmer, D., Schächtele, L., & Schneck, A., 2023: Care to share? Experimental evidence on code sharing behavior in the social sciences. PLOS ONE, 18(8): e0289380.