Research Transparency and Reproducibility

There is increasing concern across a wide range of academic disciplines that research results cannot be reproduced. This is a serious concern because research knowledge is cumulative, and it is built on incremental advances in empirical research. Improvement in computers, developments in data analytical software, and increased access to large-scale social science data resources (e.g. social surveys and administrative data) have greatly extended research capacity in the social sciences. In this chapter we discuss how the issues of transparency and reproducibility impinge on statistically orientated social science research. We outline approaches and techniques which will promote transparent and reproducible quantitative social science research.