Cheatsheet

Print this page before the session

Note

Print this page (Ctrl+P / Cmd+P) or keep it open on a second device. It has everything you need for the day.

In-room URLs

URL
Workshop site https://codemoreh.github.io/applied-replication/
Browser lab (Route 2) browser lab
Workspace download (Route 1 zip) https://github.com/CodeMoreh/replication-lab/archive/refs/heads/main.zip
Submit your result class-results form
Live multiverse results page
Specification menu spec menu
OSF fork – data https://osf.io/6zqct/
Full SCORE dossier on the paper https://osf.io/h7432/
Multi100 project https://osf.io/q5h2c/

Get your dots on the chart

You submit twice, and the two are different in kind. Both routes use the same function names.

Task 4 – the exploratory dot (open circle). Nothing is committed here.

  1. try_spec(...) – one argument per axis, every one defaulting to the baseline you reproduced. try_spec(estimator = "pooled_cl") changes one thing and leaves the rest alone.
  2. my_experiments() – prints everything you have tried so far, side by side, with only the axes that actually varied.
  3. submit_exploration() – sends the most recent try to the chart, labelled as exploration. Open the printed link and press Send.

Task 5 – the declared dot (filled circle). Now the choice binds.

  1. Preregister. Make one choice on every axis in the preregistration cell (claim_align <- TRUE is already set for you), then run prereg(). That declaration is your commitment – copy the whole cell into your notes.
  2. build_model(...) – write your specification as a formula. It accepts only code that matches your preregistration and tells you what is off when it does not.
  3. run_spec(my_model) – computes your specification and shows the coefficient, its claim-aligned partial r (below zero supports the claim), and your placement against the canonical 840-spec grid.
  4. report_result() – no arguments. It builds your submission from the preregistration and prints a clickable, pre-filled form link; open it and press Send.

If any of that stalls, work the ladder below.

If the browser lab stalls – the four-rung ladder

Route 2 runs R inside your browser tab, and browsers occasionally baulk. Work down this list. Each rung is more certain than the one before, and rung 4 gets you a dot on the chart no matter what your machine does.

  1. Hard reload, then rerun. Reload the page clearing the cache (Ctrl+Shift+R / Cmd+Shift+R), wait for R to restart, and rerun the chunks above the one that failed – webR needs the earlier chunks to have run in this session before a later one will work.
  2. Switch browser. If a chunk still will not run, open the browser lab in a different browser (Chrome, Edge, or Firefox). A fresh browser clears most stubborn webR problems.
  3. Follow the shared screen – the ‘buddy chunk’. If your machine simply will not cooperate, watch the facilitator run the exact chunk on the shared screen and read your numbers from there. You miss no step by doing this.
  4. Read your numbers to the facilitator. If run_spec() or report_result() printed your result but the form link will not open – or a cell simply refuses to run – read the printed b, se, t (or z for a beta family), df, n and claim-aligned r to the facilitator, who lands the dot for you. The lab has already applied the claim-alignment convention, so there is nothing to convert, and no working form link is needed at your end.
NoteFacilitator rescue – the by-hand grid lookup

Last resort, facilitator-side, if a participant’s cells will not run at all: every menu specification is a row in data/spec_grid_full.csv (a beta-family row reports z in place of t). Set the eight axes to their declared choice and read off b, se, t/z, df, n and r. Then apply the claim-alignment flips that the lab applies automatically, reversing the sign of b, t/z and r for a negative framing (mcomm, mlib, mneg), and again for a GDP-growth predictor. Enter those into the form; the dot lands without anything being fitted.

Route 1 (Positron) quick fixes

If … Then …
A package will not load, or feols / plm is “not found” Run the checker again – source("R/check_setup.R") – and let it install what is missing; or install by hand, e.g. install.packages("fixest").
The renv / pak restore stalls or half-finishes Restart R (Session menu), then run the restore again; a second pass usually completes what the first left.
“Permission denied” while installing a package Let R use a personal library it can write to – accept the offer from Positron to create a user library, then reinstall.
A data file is “not found” Check you opened the unzipped folder in Positron (File → Open Folder), not a single file – the paths in the code are relative to that folder.
Everything is stuck Switch to Route 2: open the browser lab and carry on there. You lose nothing required.

Render before you run (Route 1)

Render your report so your preregistration block is written down and timestamped before you run your specification. In Positron, press the Render button at the top of the open report, or run quarto render in the terminal (View → Terminal). In Route 2 the same block lives on the browser-lab page and updates in the tab.