Framework for assessing trustworthiness of scientific research
The systems-level framework for evaluating the trustworthiness of research findings is published by a group of researchers, including Annenberg Public Policy Center director Kathleen Hall Jamieson.
2 min. read
Amid robust debate over the trustworthiness of scientific findings in a number of different fields, a multidisciplinary group of scholars from different institutions has proposed a systems-level framework for evaluating the trustworthiness of research findings.
The researchers outline an overall “systems approach” that includes seven components to assess whether research findings are trustworthy: whether the research is accountable; evaluable, and has been evaluated; well formulated; controls bias; reduces error; and whether the claims are warranted by the evidence.
The authors write: “By adhering to practices that promote the trustworthiness of research findings, researchers contribute to a cumulative body of knowledge that can be relied upon by other researchers, policymakers, practitioners, and the public. In a world of misinformation, ideological campaigns, and motivated reasoning, producing trustworthy research findings may not be sufficient on its own to earn trust, but it is a necessary feature of an enterprise that is relentlessly truth-seeking.”
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