“JASP is very well suited to the open science era”
What does Research Data Management mean in everyday practice? In this series of interviews by RDM Support, researchers share their experiences on various aspects of research data management. In this interview, Herbert Hoijtink tells us what he learned at the workshop Handling Personal Data and why he is such a fan of JASP.
When Herbert Hoijtink, professor of Bayesian Statistics at the Faculty of Social Sciences, was making preparations for two knowledge clips about open data analysis with JASP, he heard words like 'anonymous' and ‘scooped.’ “I thought: I am out of my depth here, I really need a refresher course.” That is why he followed the RDM Support workshop Handling Personal Data. “In the knowledge clips I refer to this training course. An absolute must.”
“I am very much taken with JASP, an open statistics program. It is almost a complete replacement for SPSS, only JASP is open and free of charge. And it works splendidly!” As Herbert is talking enthusiastically, his breath is visible in the freezing cold. He is sitting outside his favourite espresso bar for his daily coffee to go, a stop on his bike ride to get some fresh air on his working day. He continues: “You can add things if you like. Questions are quickly answered, which is not the case for SPSS. And JASP is very well suited to the open science era. The program makes it possible to make data FAIR.’ Herbert Hoijtink contributes to that openness in science. He thinks that more people within Utrecht University should know what JASP is and what possibilities it has to offer. That is why he made two knowledge clips: one for lecturers and one for bachelor students.
Sometimes it is not possible to publish your data open access. However, you can open up everything, except your data.
Open science in education
“In the knowledge clip for lecturers I show how in ten minutes’ time lecturers can promote open science and specifically open data and open data analyses in their teaching. The fact is that in JASP you can create a single file containing all your data. In that file you can put a description of your data, include the export of your analyses and add notes to them as well. In the end you have a single file with the core of your research which you can publish open access. In the knowledge clip I explain the procedure and encourage lecturers to show it in their lectures.” In the second knowledge clip with the title ‘Open your bachelor thesis’ Herbert addresses students. “I explain that they can put everything in a single JASP file." Herbert says how students can collect the data of their thesis in JASP, use it to execute analyses and include the results and their interpretations in the JASP file. “The next step is that they can share it with the whole world.”
Anonymizing data is a must
“Two things are important in open science. Firstly, you cannot make your entire research public because the data must absolutely be anonymized. Your data may not trace back to a real person. That is simply not allowed. That means that sometimes it is not possible to publish your data open access. However, you can open up everything, except your data. You could show the analyses you made, you can give the code book, describe what your data is about. You could open up the data analyses, add your notes. And invite people to visit you and have a look at your data, although that is more difficult now in this period."
You don’t want to be scooped by other researchers.
And secondly: you share your data, but maybe you do not want to do this straightaway, because maybe you want to do things with it first.” And then Herbert Hoijtink drops the term he learned during the workshop. “You don’t want to be scooped by other researchers.” He explains what it means: you only make that part of your data public which you are really finished with. “What you are saying is: ‘There is more to come, but I would like to have some fun with it first’. I didn’t know about all that. Jacques Flores taught me that during the workshop.”
Larger trust in science
Due to the replication crisis Herbert Hoijtink has become a supporter of open science. “In 2015 the Open Science Collaboration redid a hundred famous psychological experiments. In one third of all cases the outcomes were the same, and in two thirds of the cases the results were entirely different. Shocking!”
That is why the open science movement asked the question: ‘What is happening in science?’ “They came to the conclusion that open science could prevent these things from happening. We need to be open about what we are doing. And one aspect of being open is that when we collect data, it must be made available and accessible for every person in the world. Data should be FAIR, because if we conduct research and people do not trust its outcomes, they must be able to check them. They can access the data, study its contents, see what we have done with it, do it all again and maybe make calculations in a different way. Then we are open and make ourselves vulnerable. This could lead to a much larger trust in science.”
Yoda versus Open Science Collaboration
In addition, Herbert learned about Yoda for the first time in this training course. “I was used to publishing data open access in the repository of the Open Science Collaboration." He familiarized himself with Yoda and also had contact with the Yoda team. In his knowledge clip he pays more attention to the repository of the Open Science Collaboration. “Why? That repository can be set up in two minutes and then be used." That is why, Herbert says, it is very suitable for simple research projects. “I have one dataset, not too large and I want to place it there including analyses and results. Yoda has been developed much further and is in the hands of the university itself. It is the place for a data process. Yoda has more options. That is splendid. A possible drawback is that you cannot do it entirely yourself, as is the case with the Open Science Collaboration. I see the necessity at Yoda, but at the same time it slightly prevents me from acting quickly. So there was a kind of tension there.”
Why? That repository can be set up in two minutes and then be used.
Of course, Herbert Hoijtink publishes the knowledge clips open access. “In my own repository of the Open Science Collaboration: Open Your Course, where both knowledge clips are available since March 2021."