Lab2
I have multi-disciplinary research interests and a strong taste for methodological questions. These interests naturally brought me to the field of metascience, the study of the science of science.
As a research practitioner, I have become really passionate about understanding my own trial-and-error process, so I can be more rigorous about my attempts and provide better guidance to my students about their own. (I often joke that my job consists in searching a lot and finding nothing – I am sure this will strike a chord.)
Over time, I have become firmly convinced that studying one data point (myself) is simply not enough (although it is necessary). There is a need for a systematic approach to studying how we work as researchers and how we can improve our own processes.
Without theory and data, we are only left with intuition. But we can do better because we know those tools.
For this reason, I have been working with a growing team of researchers to build a lab for experimentation in science called Lab2. You can learn about it here. If you wish to contribute, please reach out!
PEER REVIEW
To understand how we produce research, it is also important that we examine how we evaluate research. I started some preliminary work in 2020-2021 to study the peer review process. With several colleagues from other institutions, we surveyed over 1,400 economists about their views on the current system and how it could be improved. While there are very few low-hanging fruits, it is only by measuring the current activity and interactions of researchers with the system that we can identify ways of improving its efficiency and equity. You can find a summary of our main results in a VoxEU article with more in depth discussions on a dedicated website here. A preliminary manuscript is also available:
Peer Review in Economics: Where Are We? Where Can We Go?, with G. Charness, A. Dreber, D. Evans and A. Gill (2023)