How (Not) to Reproduce: Practical Considerations to Improve Research Transparency in Political Science

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
R. Michael Alvarez ◽  
Simon Heuberger
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
Political Science ◽  
Professional Organizations ◽  
Code Structure ◽  
Research Transparency ◽  
Implementation Of Standards

ABSTRACT In recent years, scholars, journals, and professional organizations in political science have been working to improve research transparency. Although better transparency is a laudable goal, the implementation of standards for reproducibility still leaves much to be desired. This article identifies two practices that political science should adopt to improve research transparency: (1) journals must provide detailed replication guidance and run provided material; and (2) authors must begin their work with replication in mind. We focus on problems that occur when scholars provide research materials to journals for replication, and we outline best practices regarding documentation and code structure for researchers to use.

scholarly journals A power-critique of academic rankings: Beyond managers, institutions, and positivism

2021 ◽  
pp. 175774382098617
Author(s):  
John Welsh
Keyword(s):  
Critical Theory ◽  
Best Practices ◽  
Political Science ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Political Analysis ◽  
Normative Discourse ◽  
Academic Rankings

The bulk of research on academic rankings is policy-oriented, preoccupied with ‘best practices’, and seems incapable of transcending the normative discourse of ‘governance’. To understand, engage, and properly critique the operation of power in academic rankings, the rankings discourse needs to escape the gravity of ‘police science’ and embrace a properly political science of ranking. More specifically, the article identifies three pillars of the extant research from which a departure would be critically fruitful – positivism, managerialism, institutionalism – and then goes on to outline three aspects of rankings that a critical political analysis should explore, integrate, and develop into future research from the discourses of critical theory – arkhè, dispositif, and dialectik.

The Risks of Scholarly Militarization: A Feminist Analysis

2010 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 1107-1111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cynthia Enloe
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Best Practices ◽  
Political Science ◽  
Public Life ◽  
The United States ◽  
First Century ◽  
Feminist Analysis ◽  
Cultural Process ◽  
Us Military ◽  
The Military

Michael Mosser's thoughtful essay calls on us as political scientists to engage more closely with the contemporary US military. To weigh the implications of such a proposal, we need to consider, I think, not just the military but the wider, deeper processes of militarization. As a multi-layered economic, political, and cultural process, militarization can be blatant and off-putting; but just as often it can be subtle and seductive. All of us trying to craft the best practices of political science here in the United States in the early decades of the twenty-first century are making those scholarly efforts at a time when militarization is a potent process in American public life. Awareness of its potency breeds scholarly caution.

Standards for Experimental Research: Encouraging a Better Understanding of Experimental Methods

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 192-215 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diana C. Mutz ◽  
Robin Pemantle
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
Political Science ◽  
Experimental Research ◽  
Response Rates ◽  
Experimental Methods ◽  
Critical Issue ◽  
Reporting Guidelines ◽  
The Third ◽  
Leading Role

AbstractIn this essay, we closely examine three aspects of the Reporting Guidelines for this journal, as described by Gerber et al. (2014, Journal of Experimental Political Science 1(1): 81–98) in the inaugural issue of the Journal of Experimental Political Science. These include manipulation checks and when the reporting of response rates is appropriate. The third, most critical, issue concerns the committee's recommendations for detecting errors in randomization. This is an area where there is evidence of widespread confusion about experimental methods throughout our major journals. Given that a goal of the Journal of Experimental Political Science is promoting best practices and a better understanding of experimental methods across the discipline, we recommend changes to the Standards that will allow the journal to play a leading role in correcting these misunderstandings.

scholarly journals Analytic Transparency, Radical Honesty, and Strategic Incentives

2018 ◽  
Vol 51 (02) ◽  
pp. 416-421 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean Yom
Keyword(s):  
Political Science ◽  
Real Time ◽  
Review Process ◽  
Data Access ◽  
Natural Sciences ◽  
Research Practices ◽  
Research Activities ◽  
Strategic Incentives ◽  
Research Transparency ◽  
Institutional Strategies

ABSTRACTAs a pillar of Data Access and Research Transparency (DA-RT), analytic transparency calls for radical honesty about how political scientists infer conclusions from their data. However, honesty about one’s research practices often means discarding the linguistic template of deductive proceduralism that structures most writing, which in turn diminishes the prospects for successful publication. This dissonance reflects a unique dilemma: transparency initiatives reflect a vision of research drawn from the biomedical and natural sciences, and struggle with the messier, iterative, and open-ended nature of political science scholarship. Analytic transparency requires not only better individual practices, such as active citations, but also institutional strategies that reward radical honesty. Journals can provide authors with protected space to reveal research practices, further blind the review process, and experiment with special issues. More broadly, analytic openness can be mandated through procedural monitoring, such as real-time recording of research activities and keystroke logging for statistical programs.

A Five-Year Comparison of High-Risk Behaviors in Collegiate Recreation: Overtraining and Eating Disorders—An Exploratory Study

2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-19
Author(s):  
Adrian A. Shepard ◽  
Cathy Jewell ◽  
Katie Kage ◽  
Mick Lynch
Keyword(s):  
Eating Disorders ◽  
High Risk ◽  
Best Practices ◽  
Risk Behaviors ◽  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Professional Organizations ◽  
Statistical Significance Testing ◽  
High Risk Behaviors ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Collegiate Recreation

College students are at a higher risk for developing body image issues than any other age group (Attwood, 2012). However, empirical research focused on high-risk behaviors in collegiate recreation (CR) is lacking. Therefore, this study served as follow-up to the Shepard, Barnes, Click, and Peden (2011) seminal research which centered on overtraining (over exercise) and eating disorders in CR. A random sample ( N = 71) of National Intramural and Recreational Sports (NIRSA) fitness and wellness professionals from CR departments across North America participated in the 2016 study compared with 128 participants in 2011. Statistical significance testing ( p < .05) indicated that the difference in sample size between the two studies was not significant. Ninety-four percent of CR professionals agreed or strongly agreed that having NIRSA supported best practices for addressing overtraining would be helpful compared with 96% in 2011. Similarly, 92% of CR professionals agreed or strongly agreed that NIRSA supported best practices for eating disorders would be helpful compared with 96% in 2011. Additional findings are discussed. Recommendations are provided and meant to serve as a foundation for development of best practices between NIRSA and other professional organizations.

Best Practices for Students With Moderate and Severe Disabilities: A Rural Retrospective

2018 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 79-89
Author(s):  
Belva C. Collins ◽  
Barbara L. Ludlow
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
Special Education Teachers ◽  
Special Educators ◽  
Severe Disabilities ◽  
Rural Students ◽  
Professional Organizations ◽  
Basic Principles ◽  
The Past ◽  
Barriers And Challenges ◽  
Appropriate Education

The field of special education’s focus on moderate and severe disabilities (MSD) has undergone a number of changes in the past five decades. Some have been philosophical, some based on research, some based on mandated practices through U.S. law, and some based on the development of better technologies. While pioneers in the field first established the basic principles on which an appropriate education for students with MSD is based, subsequent scholars and professional organizations have determined how those principles are best implemented. As rural special educators involved in the field since the 1970s, we provide a reflection on the barriers and challenges faced by rural special education teachers as they continue to address the needs of rural students with MSD and make suggestions for current and future practices.

Improving Data Quality in Face-to-Face Survey Research

2019 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-50
Author(s):  
Carolyn Logan ◽  
Pablo Parás ◽  
Michael Robbins ◽  
Elizabeth J. Zechmeister
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
Data Quality ◽  
Political Science ◽  
Survey Research ◽  
Survey Data ◽  
Political Behavior ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
The World

ABSTRACTData quality in survey research remains a paramount concern for those studying mass political behavior. Because surveys are conducted in increasingly diverse contexts around the world, ensuring that best practices are followed becomes ever more important to the field of political science. Bringing together insights from surveys conducted in more than 80 countries worldwide, this article highlights common challenges faced in survey research and outlines steps that researchers can take to improve the quality of survey data. Importantly, the article demonstrates that with the investment of the necessary time and resources, it is possible to carry out high-quality survey research even in challenging environments in which survey research is not well established.

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