Misc

There will come a point where a survey can only take you so far. This is especially true when it contains moderation or mediation models. These problems are serious yet are routinely ignored and remain widespread. It's one of those classic cases where the statistical machinery is more powerful than the data it is being applied to. The models answer questions that a single survey will never be equipped to ask. None of this means surveys are useless, but it does mean we should be much more honest about what they can and cannot tell us. What makes this more interesting is that researchers often seem more content to try to drag more out of a survey or psychometric instrument, rather than switch up their methods.  I remain struck by how rarely researchers move beyond their comfort zone, either methodologically or by stepping away from their home discipline. When this happens, it is rarely done with any real conviction. Largely because it involves questioning many methodological and phil...

I've been asked to join a panel discussion about Open Research at the University of Bath . This will be part of a  week, commencing June 20 th , to celebrate and explore aspects of Research Culture at the University.  Before this, I will give an overview of my views on the open research agenda and what it means for research. This is roughly what I will say:  * * * Open and transparent practices benefit individual researchers, groups and institutions. This is beyond doubt. While there is no one size fits all, any attempt to improve the accessibility of scientific papers, data, code or materials is a step in the right direction.  Even small changes appear to have significant positive impacts in the long term. For example,  simply putting papers on pre-print servers appears to reduce the likelihood of retraction .  Open research practices including the pre-registration of analysis plans can also act as a counterweight whereby the scientific enterpris...

I've always found interdisciplinary research rewarding. It also fits with my view that, at least from an applied perspective, no single discipline has all the answers. Probably also says something about my attention span.  Anyway, I'm going to share three things that early-career interdisciplinary researchers in the UK (or who are thinking about working in the UK) might find useful. Somewhat timely as we come to the end of another REF cycle. For those outside the UK, the REF is used to quantify the quality of research outputs across institutions every 7 years or so. It determines how much funding is allocated to each institution by the UK Government.  The below is therefore based on my own and colleagues experiences while conducting interdisciplinary research at research intensive institutions across the UK. 1. Take time to appreciate disciplinary hierarchies because it may impact where you can work in the future. Publication expectations placed on researchers in terms of the ...