Replication, Reproducible Research, and Restricted-use Education Data: Challenges, opportunities and an example

• In Event: 523 - Section on Sociology of Education Refereed Roundtable Session and Business Meeting
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 16. Educational Programs, Educational Reforms, and Student Research: Session I

Abstract

The relative rarity of replication studies in sociology and education from several challenges: access to code and data that allow for replication (including access due to confidentiality and privacy), challenges of publication in journals, and norms around research practices. In this project we build off Makel and Plucker’s (2014) call for “the purposeful repetition of previous research to corroborate or disconfirm the previous results,” by undertaking a replication. In our replication and analysis, we focus on the process and challenges of replication for sociologists of education. We find that even in clearly written and seemingly well described articles, there is not enough detail to replicate. This paper provides examples about the practical challenges to replication and creating reproducible research, as well as a discussion of issues in sociology.

Author

• Caren Arbeit, RTI International