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Certificate of Achievement
has completed the following course:
Transparent and Open Social Science Research
University of California, Berkeley and Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA)
This online course explored the causes and impacts of limited transparency in social science research, as well as tools to make research more open and reproducible. Course topics included the scientific ethos and Mertonian norms; scientific misconduct, publication bias, and data mining; pre-registration; pre-analysis plans; approaches to replication and meta-analysis; open data; and data visualization. It also provided hands-on practice with tools such as P-curve and the Open Science Framework.
5 weeks, 4 hours per week
Edward A. Miguel
Professor of Economics, University of California, Berkeley; Faculty Director, Berkeley Initiative for Transparency in the Social Sciences
University of California, Berkeley
Transcript
Learning outcomes
- Develop an understanding of the root and systemic causes of limited transparency and openness in social science research, including publication bias, p-hacking, and other forms of scientific misconduct.
- Explore the tools that you can use to improve transparency in your own research and identify flaws in others' work.
- Apply research transparency tools (such as p-curve.com) to real data presented in interactive quizzes and other activities.
- Establish an account on the Open Science Framework (OSF), explore the platform, and reflect on how you might use it in your own work.
- Discuss the tools that publishers are beginning to use to incentivize research transparency and reproducibility.
- Learn how to design a pre-analysis plan (PAP), as well as explore study registries where PAPs are posted.
- Explore different frameworks to improve the robustness and credibility of social science research, including meta-analysis and replication.
- Participate in the open science movement and become an engaged researcher!
Syllabus
- Scientific Ethics and the Reproducibility Crisis
- Publication Bias, Specification Search, and the “File Drawer” Problem
- Pre-registration and Pre-analysis Plans
- The Open Science Framework (OSF)
- Approaches to Replication and Meta-Analysis
- Open Data and Code
- Transparent Data Visualization
- Your Role in the Open Science Movement
Issued on 10th November 2018
The person named on this certificate has completed the activities in the transcript above. For more information about Certificates of Achievement and the effort required to become eligible, visit futurelearn.com/proof-of-learning/certificate-of-achievement.
This certificate represents proof of learning. It is not a formal qualification, degree, or part of a degree.