Data diversity and public good research

Guy Elcheroth, Brian Kleiner

This programme gathers a group of researchers working from the simple assumption that social scientific research should contribute to the creation of public goods. In a world shaken by multiple overlapping crises, it becomes increasingly difficult to continue with business as usual, and this also applies to research. Thus, we believe that the urgency to preserve vital public goods should feed into the definition of research priorities.

The work of this research group turns around three overall objectives:

• First, we aim to give due space to collective action in the face of climate change, systemic racism, or structural violence, and aspire to be reflexive about the ethical and epistemological foundations of scientific engagement.
• Second, we believe that social scientific research should reflect and serve diverse societies. For this reason, we explore methodological avenues to make study samples more diverse and to give more attention to communities, individuals and events beyond WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialised, Rich and Democratic) backgrounds. Further, as the study of diverse societies requires the use of diverse data, we are particularly interested in methods that combine survey data with contextual indicators, environmental paradata (i.e, multilevel designs), or qualitative data (i.e., mixed methods designs).
• Third, being aware that research products should be treated themselves as public goods, we look at how the open science movement transforms current research practices and how its ideals of sharing data, findings, and benefits can be implemented in a fair, effective, and creative manner.

Erika Antal
Nora Dasoki
Pablo Diaz
Guy Elcheroth
Brian Kleiner
Sandrine Morel
Daniel Oesch
Oriane Sarrasin
Alexandra Stam
Robin Tillmann
Nathalie Vigna

Engaged science

Lead researcher: Oriane Sarasin

• How can social scientists factor in current social and ecological emergencies when defining their own research priorities and evaluating the research of their peers?
• Which frameworks and practices best allow to preserve academic independence when conducting engaged research?

Climate justice

Lead researcher: Nathalie Vigna

• What relationships are there between social hierarchy, spatial cleavages and pro-environmental values?
• How can the burden and benefits of more sustainable lifestyles be shared in socially equitable ways?

Minority representation

Lead researcher: Nora Dasoki

• How do minority experiences become (in)visible throughout the research cycle, in the major social surveys?
• Does selective forgetting contribute to making non-normative events invisible in retrospective studies?

Data mixing

Lead researcher: Guy Elcheroth

• Can multi-methods strategies facilitate the study of socially diverse populations?
• Which multilevel research designs enable combining a variety of data sources productively?

Data sharing

Lead researcher: Brian Kleiner

• How is the open science movement transforming practices of data sharing in the social sciences?
• Which factors influence researchers’ decisions to deposit their research data in a public data repository?