NSF Dear Colleague Letter: Robust and Reliable Research in the Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences

With this Dear Colleague Letter, the Directorate for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBE) announces its interest in stimulating research and other activities to enhance the robustness and reliability of research in the social, behavioral, and economic sciences. As defined in the SBE Advisory Committee 2015 report, Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences Perspectives on Robust and Reliable Science, “robust and reliable” science refers to research that is reproducible, replicable, and generalizable. Reproducibility refers to the ability of a researcher to duplicate the results of a prior study using the same materials and procedures used by the original investigator. Replicability refers to the ability of a researcher to duplicate the results of a prior study if the same procedures are followed but new data are collected. Generalizability refers to whether the results of a study apply in other contexts or populations that differ from the originals. Robust and reliable research is the foundation of all scientific development and progress, which depends critically on the ability of investigators to build on prior work. See link for more…