Special Issue: Innovation in Aging
Overview
Special Issue: Innovation in Aging
Innovation in Aging, Volume 3, Issue Supplement 1
PRE-REGISTERING QUALITATIVE RESEARCH: BENEFITS, UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES, AND UNANSWERED QUESTIONS
Innovation in Aging, Volume 3, Issue Supplement_1, November 2019, Page S400, https://doi.org/10.1093/geroni/igz038.1483
Published: 08 November 2019
Abstract: While preregistration has gained increasing acceptance for quantitative, particularly experimental, studies, its relevance and implementation for qualitative research has only recently been proposed. This presentation provides an overview of the very recent and ongoing debate on the potential benefits and costs of implementing preregistration for qualitative research. The presentation summarizes the debates about whether and how preregistration will lead to greater transparency in qualitative research, explores the implications of preregistration for qualitative research, identifies some of the costs incurred in preregistering qualitative studies, describes the inaccurate assumptions about qualitative research that are repeatedly embedded in calls for preregistration, and identifies some likely, unintended consequences of adopting the same approaches employed or proposed for quantitative studies. Acknowledging the importance of greater transparency and reduced publication bias for all research, including qualitative studies, questions about transparency that qualitative researchers must urgently address are also suggested.
CHALLENGES IN PRE-REGISTRATION AND APPLYING OPEN SCIENCE PRINCIPLES WHEN USING SECONDARY OR LONGITUDINAL DATA
Innovation in Aging, Volume 3, Issue Supplement_1, November 2019, Page S400, https://doi.org/10.1093/geroni/igz038.1482
Published: 08 November 2019
Abstract: The application of open science, preregistration, and transparency principle is challenging when using existing data, including ongoing long-term longitudinal data. The goal is to distinguish clearly between exploratory and confirmatory research, but in the context of archival or longitudinal work there are risks associated with prior knowledge that has been obtained from these secondary sources. That said, new principles are being developed, including specialized pre-registration templates, that can guide the application of open science and transparency ideas to longitudinal and other secondary data, thereby increasing credibility of such work. These include: 1) disclosure of prior knowledge about a given dataset, ranging from “never worked with these data” to having multiple publications, in the pre-registration, 2) use of hold-out subsamples that can be used for validation or confirmatory purposes, and 3) making more clear what research questions are exploratory and confirmatory.
OPEN SCIENCE AND TRANSPARENT RESEARCH PRACTICES: IMPLICATIONS FOR GERONTOLOGY
Derek M Isaacowitz, Jonathan W King
Innovation in Aging, Volume 3, Issue Supplement_1, November 2019, Page S399, https://doi.org/10.1093/geroni/igz038.1479
Published: 08 November 2019
Abstract: Scientists from many disciplines have recently suggested changes in research practices, with the goal of ensuring greater scientific integrity. Some suggestions have focused on reducing researcher degrees of freedom to extract significant findings from exploratory analyses, whereas others concern how best to power studies and analyze results. Yet others involve ensuring that other interested researchers can easily access study materials, code, and data, to help with re-analysis and/or replication. These changes are moving targets, with discussions and suggested practices ongoing. However, aging researchers have not yet been major participants in these discussions, and aging journals are just starting to consider open science policies. This symposium, sponsored by the GSA Publications Committee, will highlight transparency and open science practices that seem most relevant to aging researchers, discuss potential challenges to implementing them as well as reasons for doing so, and will consider how aging journals may implement these practices. Open science practices to be considered include: preregistration, open data, open materials and code, sample size justification and analytic tools for considering null effects. Presenters from a range of areas of aging research (lab, secondary data, qualitative) will show examples of open science practices in their work and will discuss concerns about, and challenges of, implementing them. Then, editorial team members will discuss the implications of these changes for aging journals. Finally, discussant Jon King will give NIA’s perspective on the importance of encouraging open science practices in the aging field.
PREREGISTRATION TO FACILITATE A REPLICABLE SCIENCE OF AGING
Innovation in Aging, Volume 3, Issue Supplement_1, November 2019, Page S400, https://doi.org/10.1093/geroni/igz038.1481
Published: 08 November 2019
Abstract: Psychology and other sciences have been in the midst of a replication crisis. One proposal to address this crisis is the preregistration of studies, including study hypotheses, methods, measures, and analysis approaches to reduce false positive findings resulting from “experimenter degrees of freedom.” This talk will explore the benefits, and also the challenges, of preregistration, along with common misconceptions about preregistration. A preregistration case study will be presented involving a series of experiments exploring different hypotheses regarding the mechanism behind changes in attentional processing associated with aging (http://doi.org/10.1525/collabra.26). This talk will present a brief tutorial of how to preregister studies and where to preregister them. The importance of preregistration for intervention studies will be emphasized.
OPEN SCIENCE IN GERONTOLOGY: IMPLICATIONS FOR PUBLISHING
Innovation in Aging, Volume 3, Issue Supplement_1, November 2019, Pages S399–S400, https://doi.org/10.1093/geroni/igz038.1480
Published: 08 November 2019
Abstract: One big push in open science is to change journal practices to encourage a more transparent and replicable scientific record. I will start by considering why these issues are important from the perspective of a journal editor. The Transparency and Openness Promotion Guidelines were developed as a modular way for journals to encourage and/or require certain practices by authors before submitting. I will describe the TOP guidelines and will recount my experience in working to bring the Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences to Level 1 of the TOP guidelines. Despite the challenges involved in changing journal practices to encourage and/or mandate greater use of open science practices, these changes will likely be coming to more journals in gerontology and beyond in the coming years, making it important for authors to be aware of changes in expectations and practices.