call for papers: ALT workshop on Replication & reproducibility

[Laura Becker]

*** 2nd Call for papers ***

ALT Workshop on Replication & reproducibility in quantitative typology
Convenors: Laura Becker, Frederik Hartmann, Matías Guzmán Naranjo


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date: December 4-6, 2024
venue: Nanyang Technological University Singapore
website: https://www.ntu.edu.sg/soh/news-events/events/alt-2024
abstract submission deadline: April 15, 2024
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Workshop description

Replication has played a rather minor role in typology so far, with most of the discussion being concerned with different types of language samples and sampling methods. Sparked by a discussion in Corbett (2005) on data and annotation transparency in typology, replication in typology became an explicit topic of debate in a 2006 thematic issue of Linguistic Typology. Despite a few case studies, the 2006 discussion mainly remained theoretical, dealing mostly with different levels of data collection and annotation at which replication is useful and desirable in typology.

While some of the more high-profile studies (e.g. Atkinson 2011, Chen 2013; Everett 2017; Maddieson 2018) have received further attention, including methodological discussions (Cysouw, Dediu & Moran 2012;  Hartmann 2022; Hartmann, Roberts, Valdes & Grollemund 2024; Roberts, Winters & Chen 2015), many typological studies are never replicated. Additionally, our field still lacks common standards for replication and testing reproducibility, and most replication studies use different data as well as methods compared to the original studies. Similarly, there is no consensus and little discussion on how we should generally think about studies which fail to (partially) replicate with other datasets, methods, or both. In this workshop, we want to promote the discussion on new developments and challenges related to replication and reproducibility of typological studies.


Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

• replication case studies, e.g.
• using identical methods as the original study, but a different dataset
• using an identical dataset as the original study, but different methods
• replicating low-profile or low-stakes typological studies
• current challenges for replication and reproducibility in typology, e.g.
• discussions on how to deal with studies which fail to replicate
• discussions relating to the robustness of result and uncertainty in typological studies
• discussions on data and annotation transparency in typological studies
• discussions on how robust data classification and annotations are (e.g. testing for inter-rater agreement)

Abstract submission

Abstracts should be submitted through Easy Abs (https://easyabs.linguistlist.org/conference/ALT_XV/) by April 15, 2024.

More details about the abstract submission can be found on the conference website:
https://www.ntu.edu.sg/soh/news-events/events/alt-2024/call-for-papers



References

Atkinson, Quentin D. 2011. Phonemic diversity supports a serial founder effect model of language expansion from Africa. Science 332. 346–349.

Chen, Keith. 2013. The effect of language on economic behavior: Evidence from savings rates, health behaviors, and retirement assets. American Economic Review 103(2). 690–731.

Corbett, Greville G. 2005. Suppletion in personal pronouns: Theory versus practice, and the place of reproducibility in typology: De Gruyter Mouton 9(1). 1–23.

Cysouw, Michael, Dan Dediu & Steven Moran. 2012. Comment on “Phonemic diversity supports a serial founder effect model of language expansion from Africa”. Science 335(6069). 657–657.

Everett, Caleb. 2017. Languages in drier climates use fewer vowels. Frontiers in Psychology 8. 1285.

Hartmann, Frederik. 2022. Methodological problems in quantitative research on environmental effects in phonology. Journal of Language Evolution 7(1). 95–119.

Hartmann, Frederik, Seán Roberts, Paul Valdes & Rebecca Grollemund. 2024. Investigating environmental effects on phonology using diachronic models. Evolutionary Human Sciences 6. e8.

Maddieson, Ian. 2018. Language adapts to environment: Sonority and temperature. Frontiers in Communication 3.

Roberts, Seán, James Winters & Keith Chen. 2015. Future tense and economic decisions: Controlling for cultural evolution. PLOS ONE 10(7). e0132145.