Interdisciplinarity Can Aid the Spread of Better MethodsCailin O'Connor
15 April 2021
Cailin O'Connor (UC Irvine), 17:15 - 18:45, presents her project in the Interdisciplinary Research Seminar of the GRK "Collective Decision-Making”.
This seminar will take place as a Zoom meeting. Please register (if you haven’t already) here if you want to register for the seminar. We invite everyone interested to attend!
Abstract
Why do bad methods persist in some academic disciplines, even when they have been clearly rejected in others? What factors allow good methodological advances to spread across disciplines? In this work, we investigate some key features determining the success and failure of methodological spread between the sciences. We introduce a model that considers factors like methodological competence and reviewer bias towards one's own methods. We show how self-preferential biases can protect poor methodology within scientific communities, and lack of reviewer competence can contribute to failures to adopt better methods. We further argue, however, that input from outside disciplines, especially in the form of peer review and other credit assignment mechanisms, can help break down barriers to methodological improvement.