Reproducibility in Quantitative Social Sciences Research (Friday 12 June 2026)
Description
Colleagues from the University of Oxford and University of York addressed the opportunities, challenges and practicalities of reproducible and replicable research in quantitative Social Sciences disciplines. The discussion focused on the significant advances that have been made in sharing high-quality replication packages and software, which enables researchers to identify and correct errors, but has yet to become the default practice in quantitative-based studies.
We highlighted the work of researchers at Oxford and York in the fields of social data science, health economics and social and behavioural sciences, then signposted where further support and skills training for research reproducibility and replicability can be found at the University. There were opportunities to ask questions, and we hope to encourage further discussion around promoting norms and addressing concerns around code and data sharing as a participatory and collaborative exercise to improve research quality.
Recording:
Speakers and slides:
Dr Charles Rahal (Associate Professor, Demography Science, Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science, University of Oxford)
Charles is a social science methodologist and applied social data scientist with a background in high-dimensional econometrics. He sits on the Steering Group of Reproducible Research Oxford (RROx for short, pronounced "rocks"!), and his teaching includes modules on replication and transparency in open social science.
Dr Lusine Grigoryan (Lecturer (Assistant Professor), Department of Psychology)
Lusine (Lucy) is a social and cross-cultural psychologist studying prejudice, identity, values, and morality, with continuous involvement in various collaborative projects and open science practices. She recently contributed to an international project led by the Center for Open Science investigating replicability in the social and behavioural sciences, published in Nature.
Dr Joe Spearing (Research Fellow in the Centre for Health Economics, University of York)
Joe is a member of the Open Research Advocates network and an ECR Representative on the University Open Research Strategy Group. His research interests include disability benefits, mental health and working conditions, the health and social care workforce and demand and supply of social care.
Dr Philip Harrison (Research Software Engineer Team Lead, IT Services, University of York)
Philip (Phil) oversees the deployment of Research Software Engineers (RSEs) across research projects and advises academics on the support and facilities available at the University. He is particularly interested in helping researchers in the Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences use computing tools and technology, and is involved in running the University’s Research Coding Club.
Host: Dr Cylcia Bolibaugh (Senior Lecturer, Department of Education, University of York)
Cylcia is an academic representative for the Faculty of Social Sciences on the University Open Research Strategy Group and UK Reproducibility Network (UKRN) Local Network Lead for the University. Cylcia also has a leading role in coordinating the EROS (Education Researchers for Open Science) working group, and IRIS (Instruments and data for research in language studies) and OASIS (Open Accessible Summaries in Language Studies) repositories.