[BERG] Next week's BERG seminar

[Hannah Buchanan-Smith]

Dear BERGers - cc Psychology staff and PhD students in case of interest


As part of our Behaviour and Evolution Research Group (BERG) seminars, next Wednesday (19th October, 5.30pm ) we have Professor Vernon Gayle, University of Edinburgh giving a short presentation on:



Reproducible Research is 'Show Me' not 'Trust Me'



Psychology Common Room, 3A94, Cottrell building, with usual drinks and nibbles.


I think this topic is really important to consider in terms of our research process and workflow.

Hope to see some of you there.

Best, Hannah

Abstract


Despite the explosion in the number of research publications it is impossible to 'reproduce' the results of most analyses that are published. This is because information on how the work is undertaken in seldom made available. Most researchers will have a happy, or possibly even a terrifying, early educational memory of being told to "show their working out". Somewhere between primary school and graduate school this requirement has evaporated. Currently published research is far from transparent and a culture of 'trust me' rather than a culture of 'show me' exists.



In this presentation I make an appeal for researchers to routinely provide enough information so that others can check that results are accurate, and that correct inferences and conclusions are reported in published work. This transparency will also allow others to test the robustness of the original piece of research, for example by employing new or additional data and alternative methods.  I highlight the obstacles that are commonly encountered and provide some practicable steps for rendering research 'reproducible'.



I argue that conventional research publications should, at best, be regarded as a palimpsest of the 'real work' undertaken within the data analytical process. Drawing on insights from computer science and other disciplines that have been engaged in e-Research I illustrate how contemporary digital resources could provide a useful and effective aid to making social science research more easily reproducible. I propose a set of guidelines which researchers should follow in order to enhance the reproducibility of their research. I conclude by suggesting a set of benchmarks against which the reproducibility can be assessed.



Hannah M. Buchanan-Smith
Professor, Behaviour and Evolution Research Group (BERG)

Psychology, Faculty of Natural Sciences
University of Stirling
Stirling, FK9 4LA
Scotland
Tel: 01786 467674
Fax: 01786 467641
E-mail: h.m.buchanan-smith at stir.ac.uk<mailto:h.m.buchanan-smith at stir.ac.uk>
Home page: https://rms.stir.ac.uk/converis-stirling/person/11925
http://marmosetcare.com/
http://www.247animalwelfare.eu/index.html
Just launched: http://refiningdogcare.com/
http://www.refiningdogcare.com/images/RDC%20Flyer.pdf
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.stir.ac.uk/pipermail/berg/attachments/20161014/27c559b3/attachment.html>