1. Seven Steps Toward More Transparency in Statistical Practice
- Author
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Casper J. Albers, Franziska A. Stanke, Štěpán Bahník, Jorge N. Tendeiro, Balazs Aczel, Alexandra Sarafoglou, David Moreau, Rink Hoekstra, Don van Ravenzwaaij, Noah van Dongen, Sil Aarts, Eric-Jan Wagenmakers, Aljaž Sluga, Johannes Algermissen, Psychometrics and Statistics, Research and Evaluation of Educational Effectiveness, RS: CAPHRI - R1 - Ageing and Long-Term Care, and Health Services Research
- Subjects
MetaArXiv|Social and Behavioral Sciences|Political Science ,Social Psychology ,bepress|Social and Behavioral Sciences|Economics ,Statistics as Topic ,Acknowledgement ,Behavioural sciences ,Experimental and Cognitive Psychology ,TABLES ,GRAPHS ,bepress|Social and Behavioral Sciences|Political Science ,Ethos ,Behavioral Neuroscience ,MetaArXiv|Social and Behavioral Sciences|Other Social and Behavioral Sciences ,bepress|Social and Behavioral Sciences|Social Statistics ,Openness to experience ,Statistical inference ,Humans ,Positive economics ,Universalism ,bepress|Social and Behavioral Sciences|Other Social and Behavioral Sciences ,bepress|Social and Behavioral Sciences|Psychology ,MetaArXiv|Social and Behavioral Sciences ,Models, Statistical ,Information Dissemination ,Action, intention, and motor control ,MetaArXiv|Social and Behavioral Sciences|Social Statistics ,Uncertainty ,Common ground ,Transparency (behavior) ,TRIALS ,Research Design ,MetaArXiv|Social and Behavioral Sciences|Economics ,MetaArXiv|Social and Behavioral Sciences|Psychology ,Data Interpretation, Statistical ,bepress|Social and Behavioral Sciences ,VISUALIZATION ,Psychology - Abstract
We argue that statistical practice in the social and behavioural sciences benefits from transparency, a fair acknowledgement of uncertainty and openness to alternative interpretations. Here, to promote such a practice, we recommend seven concrete statistical procedures: (1) visualizing data; (2) quantifying inferential uncertainty; (3) assessing data preprocessing choices; (4) reporting multiple models; (5) involving multiple analysts; (6) interpreting results modestly; and (7) sharing data and code. We discuss their benefits and limitations, and provide guidelines for adoption. Each of the seven procedures finds inspiration in Merton's ethos of science as reflected in the norms of communalism, universalism, disinterestedness and organized scepticism. We believe that these ethical considerations-as well as their statistical consequences-establish common ground among data analysts, despite continuing disagreements about the foundations of statistical inference.Wagenmakers and colleagues describe seven statistical procedures that increase transparency in data analysis. These procedures highlight common ground among data analysts from different schools and find inspiration in Merton's ethos of science.
- Published
- 2021