Transparency in social science research

Transparency in measurement, data access, and analysis is one of the major issues in the current debate about professional standards in the social sciences, as attested by an article in Science published last year. A commitment to transparency has been set out by the American Political Science Association in a series of collectively authored statements. Beyond the well-recognized (though not always practiced) norm that researchers provide access to the data and analytical methods they use in their publications, the APSA calls for production transparency in the collection of data. This roundtable will bring a diverse group of panelists together to discuss the virtues, potential pitfalls, and challenges involved in the transparency initiative.