Die Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft richtet 14 neue Schwerpunktprogramme für 2021 ein

Die Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) hat den Antrag für das interdisziplinäre Schwerpunktprogramm „META-REP: A meta-scientific program to analyze and optimize replicability in the behavioral, social, and cognitive sciences“ bewilligt. Das Schwerpunktprogramm wird unter Leitung des Programmkomitees – bestehend aus Prof. Mario Gollwitzer, Prof. Katrin Auspurg, Dr. Tina Lonsdorf,  PD Felix Schönbrodt  und Dr. Susann Fiedler – für 6 Jahre Forschungsarbeiten zum Thema Reproduzierbarkeit fördern.

Der Zweck dieser Programme liegt darin, grundlegende wissenschaftliche Fragen zu besonders aktuellen oder neu entstehenden Forschungsgebieten zu untersuchen. Alle Programme sind stark interdisziplinär ausgerichtet und zeichnen sich durch die Anwendung innovativer Methoden aus. Die Unterstützung von Nachwuchsforschern ist ein zentraler Aspekt der Programme, und allen neuen Gruppen liegt auch ein Prinzip der Gleichbehandlung zugrunde.

Programmkomitee:

Koordinator:

Prof. Dr. Mario Gollwitzer
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, München

Other Members:  

Prof. Dr. Katrin Auspurg
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, München

Dr. Susann Fiedler
Max-Planck-Institut zur Erforschung von Gemeinschaftsgütern, Bonn

Dr. Tina Lonsdorf
Universitätsklinikum, Hamburg-Eppendorf

PD Dr. Felix Schönbrodt
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, München

Summary

The behavioral, social, and cognitive sciences are in the midst of an intensive debate about the replicability of their empirical findings. Shaken by the results of many replication projects that have been conducted in recent years, scholars have begun discussing (1) what replicability actually means and when a replication can be regarded as successful vs. failed; (2) whether low replication rates are due to too many false positive findings in the literature, to methodological weaknesses in the replication studies, or to the underappreciated influence of contextual effects; and (3) what can be done to secure, effectively and sustainably, a high level of replicability in the behavioral, social, and cognitive sciences. So far, most of these discussions have been based on ad-hoc arguments. Thus, a concerted, integrative, and interdisciplinary meta-scientific research program is needed to scrutinize these arguments systematically. “META-REP” is such a program. Projects joining “METAREP” will contribute to the emerging field of replication science. More specifically, projects will (1) define, operationalize, and assess replicability and replication success (vs. failure) in their respective fields, precisely and validly (the “what” question); (2) comprehensively explain why replication rates vary across and within scientific fields (the “why” question); and (3) evaluate and optimize the effectiveness and suitability of potential strategies aimed at increasing or maintaining replication rates in different fields (the “how” question). The results from this program will be relevant for all sciences that discuss issues of replicability. On a broader level, this program will enrich the public discourse about the credibility, the value, and the usefulness of science in general.