Time
Friday, 04/02/21 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM (Central)
Title
Understanding Open Science Behaviors through Trace Data Analysis
Abstract
Open science is the convergence of several interrelated trends in academia that push for accessible, inclusive, and transparent research practices and technology. Advocates of open science often present the movement as leveraging modern technology to do better research—research that embodies the values and norms open science advocates take as fundamental to good science (i.e. Mertonian norms). Funders, journals, and institutions pursue policies that necessitate the use of open science technologies, but these top-down efforts are sometimes met with resistance from researchers who perceive open science values to be at odds with their own. Some open science technologies encourage users to behave openly by design, employing nudges or persuasion tactics to promote openness. However, the introduction of new technology often leads to conflicts between developers’ and users’ expectations for the system. By studying technology-led advocacy for open science and researchers’ responses to it, we can explore the role of values in shaping the future of science practice and we can understand how technology undermines or supports stakeholders’ agency to enact their own values. To that end, I propose the qualitative study of an open science platform designed to change users’ behavior: the Open Science Framework. In this WIP talk, I will present the background and motivation for this study and outline a plan for collecting trace data that logs developers’ and users’ interactions with the Open Science Framework. I look forward to discussing the value and difficulties of trace data collection and analysis; I further welcome feedback on the study design.
Bio
Johanna (Hannah) Cohoon is a doctoral candidate in the School of Information at UT Austin. She studies change in scientific research practices and infrastructure focusing on scientific software development and open science. Johanna received her bachelors in Cognitive Science from the University of Virginia in 2013. She also previously worked at the Center for Open Science where she researched reproducibility in Psychology.