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12 tweets,
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Trying to balance:
- Having genuine empathy for people who are staring down the barrel of their life's work not replicating
- Not reinforcing power structures and practices that led to a world where those barrels are all too common
- Having genuine empathy for people who are staring down the barrel of their life's work not replicating
- Not reinforcing power structures and practices that led to a world where those barrels are all too common
Hearing @minzlicht talk about this on the "Replication Crisis Gets Personal" @fourbeerspod episode brought home to me how lucky I am to be early in my career now as opposed to 20 or even 10 years ago
But his example* reminds me people in power have a choice when confronted with a much messier literature than initially described
They can double down, or they can engage meaningfully with a more complicated world
*And many others, my mentions aren't ever comprehensive!
They can double down, or they can engage meaningfully with a more complicated world
*And many others, my mentions aren't ever comprehensive!
I've seen some great examples of people engaging well with a more complicated world
In those cases people seem (I could be wrong!) to be either rewarded or at least avoid further criticism
Want examples?
In those cases people seem (I could be wrong!) to be either rewarded or at least avoid further criticism
Want examples?
.@BrendanNyhan became well-known for the "backfire effect" where trying to persuade people made them double down on their original beliefs
He now actively tells people how much more complicated the picture is
He seems to be doing alright for himself!
He now actively tells people how much more complicated the picture is
He seems to be doing alright for himself!
Remember the hand washing nudge that got retracted at Psych Science?
Unless you're deeply involved in psych Twitter, probably not! That's at least partially because @prisslim engaged meaningfully with criticism and retracted the paper
Unless you're deeply involved in psych Twitter, probably not! That's at least partially because @prisslim engaged meaningfully with criticism and retracted the paper
Ping Dong (sorry if I missed their Twitter handle and add it if you know them!) responded gracefully to retracting an article on pathogen fear after issues were discovered via open data
This attracted praise from @BrianNosek and others
retractionwatch.com/2018/11/28/psy…
This attracted praise from @BrianNosek and others
retractionwatch.com/2018/11/28/psy…
I don't know any of these people personally, but I find it implausible they didn't experience some combination of frustration, heartache, imposter syndrome, or even worse when their findings weren't what they originally believed
And they did the right things anyway
And they did the right things anyway
And at least a couple of them were/are in far more vulnerable power dynamics than eminent folks grappling with a much messier literature than they initially believed
I think we should honor people's humanity, but that shouldn't be an excuse for continuing to allow practices that harm not just science, but the most vulnerable people doing it
This by @jamesheathers sums up that dynamic pretty well
medium.com/@jamesheathers…
This by @jamesheathers sums up that dynamic pretty well
medium.com/@jamesheathers…
Questionable research practices aren't victimless, and strident calls to honor one powerful person's humanity are frustrating to me unless they're accompanied by calls to consider the humanity of many vulnerable people harmed by that powerful person's practices
Short version:
1. We can validate feelings without validating behaviors
2. I think we do a good job of reinforcing positive engagement with a messier literature, and we can still do better
3. When considering people's humanity, consider more than just the most powerful person
1. We can validate feelings without validating behaviors
2. I think we do a good job of reinforcing positive engagement with a messier literature, and we can still do better
3. When considering people's humanity, consider more than just the most powerful person
