How to find phenomena in the midst of the replication crisis – with an application to sex-differences in risk-aversion
Speaker: Dr Jan Feld
Affiliation: Victoria University of Wellington
Location: Room S402, Social Sciences Building (#24), UQ St Lucia Campus.
Abstract
One of the main goals of the scientific enterprise is to discover phenomena, that is, stable and generalizable features of the world. The replication crisis has shaken our confidence to do so. A failed replication suggests that the original study is either wrong or the original findings are context specific. Both are concerning. In this talk, I suggest an approach to finding phenomena which has three features. First, it probes generalizability with data from many contexts and many empirical approaches. Second, it avoids publication bias by avoiding estimates that were filtered through the scientific review process. Third, it statistically accounts for sampling error using meta-analysis methods. I then apply this approach to study if men are generally more risk-seeking than women. My data covers 114 countries and 13 different measures of risk aversion. My results suggest that “men-are more risk-seeking that women in the gain domain” and “men describe themselves as more risk-seeking” are real phenomena. However, I find no systematic sex differences in risk-aversion for lotteries involving losses.
About the presenter's meeting
If you would like to meet with Dr Feld, contact A/Prof Julie Moschion
About School Seminar Series
The School of Economics General Seminar Series is held on Fridays. These are in-person and presented by a range of guest researchers from around Australia and internationally.