What social science research do you want to see reanalyzed?

post by Michael Wiebe (Macaulay) · 2023-09-22T00:03:01.418Z · LW · GW · 9 comments

I've been awarded a small Lightspeed Grant to replicate empirical social science research. What research should I look at?

I'm a PhD economist with an interest in reanalyzing published research using different methods or data (eg. checking whether the results are robust to different regression models, rather than rerunning a lab experiment). I've looked at whether mayors in China are promoted based on GDP growth, the effect of racial violence on patenting, and the effect of medical marijuana legalization on crime. I've also done work on air pollution and mortality, the long-run impacts of the measles vaccine, and how tech clusters drive innovation.

9 comments

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comment by NoSignalNoNoise (AspiringRationalist) · 2023-09-22T00:32:41.245Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

I'd like to know whether deep canvassing actually works.

comment by MondSemmel · 2023-09-22T12:53:20.660Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

This question seems worth crossposting on the EA Forum and the SlateStarCodex subreddit.

comment by belkarx · 2023-09-23T18:22:54.086Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Research on the effectivity of hypnosis as an analgesic and in general

comment by jmh · 2023-09-22T17:03:58.394Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

I'm not sure if this is really reanalyzing but I would be interested in seeing analysis of the firm through a hard Public Choice lens. I suspect there is plenty of implicit analysis in that general vein within IO and theory of the firm research but I've not seen any (which hardly means it does not exist) that explicitly does so.

Another might be market efficiency from a total surplus value generation perspective. Specifically in terms of financial markets. Are individual stocks trading in a more efficient manner than mutual funds; the former being a streaming exchange as buyers-sellers interact though out the trading session while the latter is priced end of day (much more like the Walrasian auction process).

comment by Chipmonk · 2023-09-23T06:38:55.781Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Do literally anything involving Adlerian Psychology:)

comment by Valdes (Cossontvaldes) · 2023-09-22T12:22:47.334Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

I agree that deep canvassing would be interesting. I am also curious about the famous experiments in which forcing people to smile (by holding a pen in their mouth) makes them more likely to appreciate something. Though I don't know if there are already many replication studies for those.

But many as an economist you would consider this to be too out of your field?

Replies from: Macaulay
comment by Michael Wiebe (Macaulay) · 2023-09-22T15:49:20.102Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Yeah, I do reanalysis of observational studies rather than rerunning experiments.

comment by Michael Tontchev (michael-tontchev-1) · 2023-09-22T08:55:26.293Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Anything to do with methods of influence

Replies from: Macaulay
comment by Michael Wiebe (Macaulay) · 2023-09-22T15:43:15.894Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Do you have any specific papers in mind?