Improving transparency in observational social science research: A pre-analysis plan approach

Abstract

Social science research has undergone a credibility revolution, but these gains are at risk due to problematic research practices. Existing research on transparency has centered around randomized controlled trials, which constitute only a small fraction of research in economics. In this paper, I highlight three scenarios in which study preregistration can be credibly applied in non-experimental settings: cases where researchers collect their own data; prospective studies; and research using restricted-access data.