RR: Workshop on Promoting Robust and Reliable Research Practice in Science of Organizations

University Of Florida, Gainesville FL

Investigators

Abstract

The research community of Science of Organizations and other social, behavioral, and economic sciences face a number of challenges related to promoting robustness and reliability in our research. The workshop aims to address these challenges and offer an opportunity to discuss best practices regarding how to improve (1) reproducibility; (2) replicability; (3) generalizability; and (4) the rigor of peer review with an explicit focus on robustness and reliability. Each of the four aims for improvement has intellectual merits in theory development, methodology, as well as publishing and reviewing. The workshop will promote the awareness about and the standards of robust and reliable science. It serves educational purposes globally by allowing researchers at all locations to access the online video library that will be generated by this workshop. Participants will gain a deeper understanding about the best research practice and transmit the learning to their network. Results from this workshop can help develop insights into and awareness about issues related to robust and reliable research, and improve researcher abilities to conduct and publish robust and reliable science. The objective of the workshop is to promote and develop robust and reliable research practice in Science of Organizations and other social, behavioral, and economic sciences by focusing on three aspects of research activities. First, in theory development, the discussion aims to focus on good practices for achieving rigor, transparency and exactness; adding replication to the research trajectory; good practices for testing existing theories in new contexts; as well as examining the cause, practice, and consequence of irresponsible research practices. Second, in methodology, the discussion aims to address transparency concerning the data gathered, the design, the analysis methods, and the results; the collection of new data for a fair test of the original study; useful methodologies to uncover the conditions under which a theory may not be applicable; as well as registered trials. Finally, in publishing and reviewing, the discussion aims to address the debates about requiring data availability as a part of the peer review process; debunking studies and theories that failed to survive attempted refutations; as well as evaluating studies that demonstrate a lack of statistical support. The workshop will include participants sampled from thought leaders and major journal editors from a variety of disciplines, and scholars at different career stages to participate in the discussion. Results of the workshop will be archived and disseminated to reach a wide audience.