The Emergence of Forensic Objectivity: Transparency, Mechanical Replication, and the Meta-Analytic Mindset

• In Event: 378 - Regular Session. Sociology of Science

Abstract

Across the sciences, journals, grant agencies, and professional organizations have begun demanding increased transparency, more focus on replication, and new ways to draw valid conclusions from complex literatures. Although previous research has investigated aspects of these changes, few studies understood them as part of a unitary phenomenon that represents a deep challenge to prevailing scientific practice. Extending research on objectivity, we introduce the term “forensic objectivity” to describe a package of reforms that includes increased disclosure and the turn toward a meta-analytic mindset. Through a case study of social psychology, we demonstrate how epistemological activists are promoting these changes by highlighting replication failures and conducting statistical forensics which cast doubt on entire literatures. Implications for both scientific practice and the science studies are discussed.

Authors

• Jeremy Freese, Northwestern University

• David Peterson, Northwestern University