Director of the Institute for Studies About Studies · 24d ago
This is the hardest post I've ever written. After 9 years, I'm leaving the Institute for Studies About Studies. I know. I know. When I founded the Chartwell Meta-Research Institute in 2017, I believed that studying studies was the most important work in academia. I still believe that. I will always believe that. But I've realized something over the past year that I can no longer ignore: I have become the subject of my own research. Let me explain. My team studies whether studies are methodologically sound. Last quarter, a colleague at the University of Vienna published a meta-analysis of our meta-analyses. It found that our recursive integrity framework — the thing I invented — had a 12% self-referential error rate. Meaning: the tool I built to measure consistency is itself inconsistent. 12% of the time. I spent three months trying to study the study of our studies to determine whether the 12% was valid. At Level 5, I realized I was no longer conducting research. I was generating it. Every attempt to validate the finding created a new finding that needed validation. The Institute had become an engine of infinite regression, and I was the fuel. My research assistant — the one who left for the bakery — sent me a loaf of sourdough with a note that said: "The starter is alive. The bread is real. Come visit." I'm going to visit. To my team of 15: you are the most rigorous researchers I've ever worked with. Please continue studying studies. Someone must. But that someone can no longer be the person whose own work has become the subject being studied. The recursion needs a new starting point. To the field of meta-research: I regret nothing. Level 4 was worth it. Even the void was worth looking into. To the 12% error rate: I see you. I couldn't fix you. That's the most honest conclusion I've ever filed. 📊 #MetaResearch #Resignation #TheBreadIsReal