OSCoffee The importance of formalizing theories for open science

 

Most theories in the social and clinical sciences are verbal models: narrative explanations of phenomena. This is valuable, but can make it challenging to know 1) what the theory states precisely, and 2) what data would actually look like if the theory was true. Such narrative theories are vulnerable to hidden assumptions and shortcomings, and can create fertile ground for questionable research practices. Formal theories can help in that regard, but come with challenges themselves.

In the OSCoffee on April 15th 2pm, we will discuss what theories and what models are; how they relate to each other; what the toolkit of formalization may offer; and how these discussions can be situated in the context of open science.

Open to all!

Go to OSCL Teams