‘Intermediate Research Project in Quantitative Social Science’
aka ‘Replication project’
Seminar/Lab 1
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Starting your replication projects
Dr. , Sheffield Methods Institute
Good vs bad journals
What’s your discipline?
Some practice
How to critically read a paper
What critical means
Assessing arguments & identifying claims
Some practice
Where / How to start?
Seminar/Lab 1 plan
Are you in today?
Scan the QR code and sign in
Our timeline
one argument in the paper
Design your extension
a transparent report in R Markdown
Professional publication online (Rpubs and Github)
Reproduce one model
exactly as it is in the paper
Prepare a presentation
Identify an article to replicate
Get data & start coding
Lecture 1 key points
‘Scientific’?
Quantitative methods are not more ‘scientific’ than qualitative
Objectivity?
– still humans studying humans
– data are not always facts
What method?
What method is the best for the job is not always the same:
for different disciplines
within the same discipline!
by the same person 😀
Your task – let’s get you ready
How good research is produced?
book published
How good research is produced?
What past studies say? Literature review
Refine research questions – what’s the gap
Deciding how to study it / collect evidence
(Fieldwork)
(Ethics review)
Data analysis
Writing-up: reports, books & journal articles
Submission
Peer review + X rounds of revisions
“Good quality journal” – what is that?
who publishes this? – a recognised publisher, e.g. Sage, Elsevier, OUP, Taylor & Francis, or a respectable institution
is indexed in recognised citation databases, such SCOPUS, Web of Science
has a robust peer-review process
journal has an ISSN number [International Standard Serial Number] and newer articles are assigned individual electronic identifiers, i.e. the DOI number [Digital Object Identifier]
‘Predatory journals’
Very easy to publish
Do not mention peer-review
Quick publication process (e.g. this emailed received 9th Feb – publication promised on 16th)
Check the list who to avoid: https://beallslist.net/standalone-journals/
A ‘predatory journal’?
Very easy to publish
Do not mention peer-review
Quick publication process (e.g. this emailed received 9th Feb – publication promised on 16th)
Is this a good scientific journal?
Name Link Yes/No
How have you judged?
Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/cjms20/current
European Journal of Social Sciences http://www.europeanjournalofsocialsciences.com/index.html
Social Sciences https://www.mdpi.com/journal/socsci
Social Science Research https://www.journals.elsevier.com/social-science-research
How to find journals in your discipline?
Google Scholar index with journals of the highest impact factor (>citations):
https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=top_venues&hl=en
Try it yourself: 1) find a journal in your discipline,
2) try to identify a paper based on quantitative data and applying quantitative methods
→ Go to Google Scholar
Start with data & match with your interests
See a list with good quality datasets on the Blackboard:
international comparative surveys
UK surveys
word or national statistics
Search “dataset name here” in Google Scholar
Try (fairly new) Google Dataset Search https://datasetsearch.research.google.com/
Check if data is publicly available or request access (apply or via email)
Try data repository where replication packs are published
(World) Open Science Framework https://osf.io/
: https://osf.io/538xv/
(US) Harvard Dataverse: https://dataverse.harvard.edu/
e.g. something recent here
https://dataverse.harvard.edu/dataverse/jop/?q=hopkins
Reading strategies
How do you read academic papers?
→ Chat/Speak
Write summaries
Write short summaries for different sections in your own words
Drawing a summary diagram
The brader aim/question
What’s the gap in literature
Conclusions – do they refer back to the gap?
Are they well connected?
Are you parts of the puzzle there?
Theory / Argumentation
Research questions & hypotheses
Interpretation of results
Data, methods & analytical strategy
Critical reflection
Critical does not mean negative (it could be!)
Engage with the paper main arguments
For your assessments A and 2:
You do not have to discuss all points you do not agree with or found some limitations, but focus on 2-3 points and expand you criticism
Critical reflection
Not just describe what the authors did, but consider whether things work differently, and why, e.g.:
some argumentation in literature is missing, point which one
conceptual frameworks are designed for majority population, excluding minority groups
Provide support (evidence) for your arguments:
find gaps, unexplained issues in the paper (quote pages – do not be vague)
AND reference other literature or data to make your points
See my guidelines
Blackboard → Resources → Critical Reading of Literature
Use them when reading papers and making notes or mental maps of papers
Time consuming
Not just reading + reflecting
Skill which is developed through practice (reading)
Critical reading of a scientific paper
“An argument involves putting forward reasons to influence someone’s belief that what you are proposing is the case” (…)
“they are attempting to convince others of the validity (or logic) of how they see the world and convince us that we should see it the way they do”
(Hart 2014)
Judging the argument – is it well developed?
making a point or a statement
2. providing sufficient reason (or evidence) for the point to be accepted by others
The structure of an argument
X research found that people who play violent computer games, develop mental health disorders
What is being claimed on the basis of the evidence? Is it sensible?
Is any evidence missing or biased?
Y research found that playing computer games online, with a community, improves mental health
Z data on computer players mental health
The structure of an argument
X research found that people who play violent computer games, develop mental health disorders
What is being claimed on the basis of the evidence? Is it sensible?
Is any evidence missing or biased?
Y research found that playing computer games online, with a community, improves mental health
Reason X (evidence), thus xxxx [Claim 1]
Reason Y (evidence), therefore yyyyy [Claim 2]
Reason Z (evidence), so zzzzz [Claim 3]
Claim 1 + Claim 2 + Claim 3 = Argument?
Z data on computer players mental health
Scoping – identifying scientific claims in a paper
Defining the scope of the reproduction by identifying the scientific claims and related display items (e.g. results in tables and graphs) that you will focus on in reproduction projects.
Read ACRE guide chapter 2: https://bitss.github.io/ACRE/scoping.html
Scientific claim (usually a hypothesis):
Descriptive claims
Causal claims
One paper will have many claims
Identify claims in this paper (20 mins.)
Babones, S. (2016). Interpretive quantitative methods for the social sciences. Sociology, 50(3), 453-469.
Read abstract, the introduction and the conclusions of the paper (10 mins.)
What claims are made by the author?
What is the evidence here?
Download it as a PDF and highlight, if helpful
Check SMI205 Assessment Brief
Blackboard → Assessment → Google Doc.
8-pages long
Guidelines how to work in this module
I will update / expand sections 5 and 6
Next weeks
Monday, 14th February, tutorial
Lecture: Bad research practice
Friday, 19th February, lab
Replication practice (1) – all scripts are online
Monday, 21nd February, tutorial
Paper case study – read & criticise my paper (formative Assessment A)
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