Mark Rubin

@markrubin.bsky.social

19K followers 1.9K following 5.1K posts

social psychology ▪︎ metascience ▪︎ philosophy of science ▪︎ higher education

Professor at Durham University, UK. He/him.

Website: https://sites.google.com/site/markrubinsocialpsychresearch/

Substack: https://markrubin.substack.com/ .. more

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Mark Rubin @markrubin.bsky.social · Aug 22

Just published…

I argue that preregistration does not improve the transparent evaluation of the severity of hypothesis tests (a) in Popper’s approach or (b) in Mayo’s error statistical approach when preregistration is treated as “a plan, not a prison.”

Open Access: doi.org/10.1007/s112...

One justification for preregistering research hypotheses, methods, and analyses is that it improves the transparent evaluation of the severity of hypothesis tests. In this article, I consider two cases in which preregistration does not improve this evaluation. First, I argue that, although preregistration may facilitate the transparent evaluation of severity in Mayo’s error statistical philosophy of science, it does not facilitate this evaluation in Popper’s theory-centric approach. To illustrate, I show that associated concerns about Type I error rate inflation are only relevant in the error statistical approach and not in a theory-centric approach. Second, I argue that a test procedure that is preregistered but that also allows deviations in its implementation (i.e., “a plan, not a prison”) does not provide a more transparent evaluation of Mayoian severity than a non-preregistered procedure. In particular, I argue that sample-based validity-enhancing deviations cause an unknown inflation of the test procedure’s Type I error rate and, consequently, an unknown reduction in its capability to license inferences severely. I conclude that preregistration does not improve the transparent evaluation of severity (a) in Popper’s philosophy of science or (b) in Mayo’s approach when deviations are allowed.

Mark Rubin @markrubin.bsky.social · 1d

#SocialPsyc

Mathias Kauff @matkau.bsky.social · 1d

Statement regarding the Bloomberg article "Oxford University Has Failed Women Over Harassment Concerns, Staff Say" by Oliver Christ, Mathias Kauff (@matkau.bsky.social), Sybille Neji, Sarina J. Schäfer (@dr-in.bsky.social)

ICRN Statement: contactresearch.substack.com/p/icrn-respo...

Mark Rubin @markrubin.bsky.social · 1d

Thanks! Yes, I think many people assume that methodological and statistical rigor should precede concerns about theory. But another interest question here is the extent to which theoretical specification informs (contextualizes) methodological and statistical rigor.

E.g., doi.org/10.1177/2378...

In 2018, Silberzahn, Uhlmann, Nosek, and colleagues published an article in which 29 teams analyzed the same research question with the same data: Are soccer referees more likely to give red cards to players with dark skin tone than light skin tone? The results obtained by the teams differed extensively. Many concluded from this widely noted exercise that the social sciences are not rigorous enough to provide definitive answers. In this article, we investigate why results diverged so much. We argue that the main reason was an unclear research question: Teams differed in their interpretation of the research question and therefore used diverse research designs and model specifications. We show by reanalyzing the data that with a clear research question, a precise definition of the parameter of interest, and theory-guided causal reasoning, results vary only within a narrow range. The broad conclusion of our reanalysis is that social science research needs to be more precise in its “estimands” to become credible.

Reposted by Mark Rubin

Mathias Kauff @matkau.bsky.social · 1d

Mark Rubin @markrubin.bsky.social · 2d

Theorizing is important. There's a few posts about that in this recent European Review of Social Psychology special issue on “Reflections on social-psychological theorizing and the state of our field”...

Mark Rubin @markrubin.bsky.social · Sep 21

"Progress in theorising means treating our theories as works in progress in need of continuous improvement, and this sometimes also means having to kill one’s darlings."

Martijn van Zomeren and @ayseuskul.bsky.social introduce the ERSP special issue on theorizing in social psychology.

#SocialPsyc

Introduction to the ERSP special issue on “Reflections on social-psychological theorizing and the state of our field”

Published in European Review of Social Psychology (Vol. 36, No. 2, 2025)

doi.org

Reposted by Gordon Hodson, Mark J. Brandt, Mark Rubin , and 1 more Gordon Hodson, Mark J. Brandt, Mark Rubin, Melanie C. Green

Kate A. Ratliff @kateratliff.bsky.social · 2d

Social psych friends, please help me out with a class discussion by responding to the following (and sharing):

What do you see as the biggest challenge for social and personality psychology in the immediate future? What should we as a field be doing better than we are now?

Mark Rubin @markrubin.bsky.social · 2d

“As a whole, this literature draws attention to the epistemic diversity within science and, by de-centering rigidly positivistic accounts within metascience, calls into question metascience’s dominant view of science as a unitary object of inquiry.”

Mark Rubin @markrubin.bsky.social · 2d

“My intervention can be situated within what I term the ‘critical metascience’ literature, that is research that applies philosophical, sociological and hermeneutical methods of analysis to metascientific knowledge and practices.”

Mark Rubin @markrubin.bsky.social · 2d

“This article focuses on the epistemic specificity of humanities research which makes it not only not suitable for replication, but also at odds with many of the other scientific reform measures touted as solutions to the so-called replication crisis.”

Serhii Nazarovets @serhiinazarovets.bsky.social · 2d

A new article by Chloe Patton in #ResearchEvaluation shows how debates about #OpenScience often slip into absurdity – like demanding #replication from the #Humanities. You can’t replicate history, culture, or interpretation the way you replicate a physics experiment: doi.org/10.1093/rese...

Patton, C. (2024). Replicability and the humanities: the problem with universal measures of research quality. Research Evaluation, 34. https://doi.org/10.1093/reseval/rvaf052

Mark Rubin @markrubin.bsky.social · 2d

Part of the Topical Issue “Theory Specification and Theory Building in Psychology”
doi.org/10.1027/2151...

#MetaSci #PhilSci #SocialPsyc #PsycSci

Psychological theories should meet scientific criteria such as objectivity, coherence, and nontautology. We argue that theories formulated as verbal narratives often fail to meet these standards and propose that all psychological theories should be formally specified to ensure compliance with these requirements. We recommend: (i) requiring authors of new theories to provide sufficient formal specification before publication by changing standards and extending publication manuals; (ii) increasing incentives for the specification of existing theories by introducing a dedicated category of theory specification papers; (iii) encouraging researchers who aim to empirically test a theory to specify the relevant aspects before doing so, if required; (iv) fostering the development of improved theory specification methodologies through methodological debates and consensus-building processes; and (v) enhancing psychology education by incorporating fundamental philosophy of science concepts and formal theory specification techniques. We review theory specification approaches in psychology that can be used to implement these recommendations.

Mark Rubin @markrubin.bsky.social · 2d

“Truly cumulative theory building should be based on a combination of the two strategies discussed here: specifying and testing boundary conditions for an effect to occur (and building these conditions into the theory) and probing empirical phenomena for theoretical overspecification.”

Mark Rubin @markrubin.bsky.social · 2d

“In general, a hypothesis is overspecified whenever (1) it can be simplified, that is, when assumptions and restrictions can be removed without noticeable loss in explanatory power; or when (2) it can be replaced by a simpler, more parsimonious, or more general alternative.”

Mark Rubin @markrubin.bsky.social · 2d

Building previously hidden moderators into a theory as boundary conditions can lead to overspecification and reduced parsimony.

New work by Johannes Ziegler and @mariogollwitzer.bsky.social

Open Access: doi.org/10.1027/2151...

In the wake of the replication crisis, it has been argued that many psychological theories do not sufficiently specify under which boundary conditions a hypothesized empirical effect occurs versus does not occur, which may explain why conceptual replications are sometimes unsuccessful. This reasoning implies that one path toward theory building is to identify all boundary conditions and to integrate them into the respective theory underlying the effect. In this article, we argue that identifying boundary conditions is undoubtedly worthwhile, but it comes with the risk of overspecifying theories. Overspecification occurs when certain assumptions of a hypothesis or theory can be dropped without noticeable loss in explanatory power. We argue that identifying boundary conditions for an effect to occur can be fruitfully combined with testing for overspecification of a hypothesis or theory. Such a combined strategy can improve cumulative theory building and, thus, increase the efficiency and integrability of psychological research.

Reposted by Mark Rubin, Ingo Rohlfing, Madeleine Pownall

Serhii Nazarovets @serhiinazarovets.bsky.social · 2d

Mark Rubin @markrubin.bsky.social · 4d

For the original Bloomberg article, see...

Aleksandra Lazić @alelazic.bsky.social · 5d

In case you can't access the original article in full: archive.is/M2wK8

Mark Rubin @markrubin.bsky.social · 6d

"Multiple men have remained in senior roles at Oxford for months or years after allegations of sexual misconduct emerged against them, Bloomberg found in a nine-month investigation based on interviews with almost 50 people as well as documents and other records."

Mark Rubin @markrubin.bsky.social · 4d

Bloomberg podcast with Katherine Griffiths on sexual harassment at Oxford University.

#AcademicSky #UKHE

Harassment Concerns at Oxford Went Unaddressed for Years

Podcast Episode · Big Take · 11/21/2025 · 21m

podcasts.apple.com

Reposted by Mark Rubin, Frank Asbrock

Dr. Michèle Denise @psychscientist.bsky.social · 5d

We all can commit to protect young, promising, and vulnerable colleagues against sexual harassment and power abuse, current Chair of the International Contact Research Network Prof. Stefania Paolini says.

contactresearch.substack.com/p/icrn-respo...

ICRN response to evidence of abuse within our community

In this letter, our Chair and Executive Committee share their reflections and commitments following the reporting of sexual abuse within our field.

contactresearch.substack.com

Reposted by Gordon Hodson

Mark Rubin @markrubin.bsky.social · 5d

Statement by the International Contact Research Network responding to the recent Bloomberg article on Miles Hewstone and sexual harrassment.

"First and foremost, we stand by the victims of these abuses."

#AcademicSky #PhdSky #SocialPsyc

ICRN response to evidence of abuse within our community

In this letter, our Chair and Executive Committee share their reflections and commitments following the reporting of sexual abuse within our field.

open.substack.com

Reposted by Mark Rubin

Gordon Hodson @gordonhodsonphd.bsky.social · 5d

#AcademicSky

#SocialPsychology is coming to grips with the now-public news that a prominent member of our community has been credibly accused by many women of harassment.

As painful as it is, acknowledging such issues is important for moving on and for generating safer work & study spaces.

Reposted by Mark Rubin

Aleksandra Lazić @alelazic.bsky.social · 5d

In case you can't access the original article in full: archive.is/M2wK8

Mark Rubin @markrubin.bsky.social · 6d

Oxford University Has Failed Women Over Harassment Concerns, Staff Say

The university has repeatedly been slow to act against male academics accused of sexual misconduct and inappropriate behavior, a Bloomberg investigation found.

www.bloomberg.com

Mark Rubin @markrubin.bsky.social · 5d

Far too long! Such a relief for those involved.

Things are slowly changing...

21 Group @21group.bsky.social · Mar 12

Ban on Non-Disclosure Agreements in employment rights bill is welcome

Universities are big users of NDAs with Unis of Oxford
and Cambridge to the fore (see recent Alice Jolly case in @theguardian1.bsky.social )

This is contrary to everything a university is meant to stand for

Reposted by Brian A. Nosek, Linda R. Tropp, Mark Rubin

Dr. Michèle Denise @psychscientist.bsky.social · 6d

More voices from those also affected by Miles Hewstone‘s behavior, hitting walls when trying to be heard. Katherine Griffiths from @bloomberg.com gave everyone a voice that can no longer be silenced.

www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

Mark Rubin @markrubin.bsky.social · 6d

“There will always be people who are harassers,” [Baker] said. “The mark of the institution is how those people are dealt with.”

#AcademicSky #PhdSky #UKHE

Mark Rubin @markrubin.bsky.social · 6d

"[Emily Baker] is one of at least seven women who described leaving their academic studies at Oxford because of harassment. Others said they had been left in limbo or were suffering from post traumatic stress disorder."

Mark Rubin @markrubin.bsky.social · 6d

"Outcomes of internal investigations are often kept quiet, allowing wrongdoers to move on to other universities with their reputations intact."

Mark Rubin @markrubin.bsky.social · 6d

"Seven women told Bloomberg about alleged rapes or sexual assaults across the university in the past five years, while more than 30 described direct experiences of harassment or bullying over the past 20 years."

Reposted by Elizabeth Stokoe, Alexander Wuttke, Flávio Azevedo , and 1 more Elizabeth Stokoe, Alexander Wuttke, Flávio Azevedo, Martin Lenz

Mark Rubin @markrubin.bsky.social · 6d

Oxford University Has Failed Women Over Harassment Concerns, Staff Say

The university has repeatedly been slow to act against male academics accused of sexual misconduct and inappropriate behavior, a Bloomberg investigation found.

www.bloomberg.com

Reposted by Dorothy Bishop, Brian A. Nosek, Gordon Hodson , and 11 more Dorothy Bishop, Brian A. Nosek, Gordon Hodson, Mark J. Brandt, Mark Rubin, Elizabeth Stokoe, Calvin K. Lai, Michael W. Kraus, Andrew Livingstone, Amy Orben, Frank Asbrock, Mohammad Atari, Toon Kuppens, Kristof Dhont

Nils Reimer @reimtime.bsky.social · 6d

This—on my former university, department, and advisor—is harrowing but required reading for all social psychologists. www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

Oxford University Has Failed Women Over Harassment Concerns, Staff Say

The university has repeatedly been slow to act against male academics accused of sexual misconduct and inappropriate behavior, a Bloomberg investigation found.

www.bloomberg.com

Reposted by Mark Rubin

Thom Volker @thomvolker.bsky.social · 6d

Unless I miss the point of their paper entirely, Vos & Holbert (doi.org/10.1007/s112...) argue that the "hypothetical sampling" view of frequentism is not required, but can be viewed as chance outcomes with certain proportions. This seems to alleviate these CI-interpretation issues as well.

Frequentist statistical inference without repeated sampling - Synthese

Frequentist inference typically is described in terms of hypothetical repeated sampling but there are advantages to an interpretation that uses a single random sample. Contemporary examples are given ...

doi.org

Reposted by Mark Rubin, Ramón López Facal, Robert Wolfe , and 1 more Mark Rubin, Ramón López Facal, Robert Wolfe, W. Andy Knight

Mark Hamill @markhamillofficial.bsky.social · 6d

"Quiet, piggy!"

Mark Rubin @markrubin.bsky.social · 6d

Good idea been around for a long time!

Can also be a useful approach *during* writing...

Mark Rubin @markrubin.bsky.social · Feb 22

Writing is so hard! When I delete big chunks of text, I save them to a Scrap Bits document in case I need them later. My Scrap Bits document for the current paper I'm working on is now longer than the actual paper! 😵‍💫

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