Setup

What to prepare before the workshop

There are two ways to take part, and you only need to prepare for the one you choose. Both cover every task and reach the same results, so pick whichever suits your machine and your comfort level.

Pick your route

Route 2 – Browser lab (nothing to install)

If you would rather install nothing, or you are on a borrowed or locked-down computer, you can do the whole exercise in your web browser.

  • Nothing to install. A recent version of Chrome, Edge or Firefox is all you need. (Safari works too, but the others are more reliable for this.)
  • The one link. On the day, open the Browser lab page. A full copy of R starts up inside the tab – it takes ten to thirty seconds the first time – and then every task runs right there.
  • You miss nothing. Route 2 has full parity with Route 1: the same data, the same models, the same result submitted to the same live class chart.

You do not need to do anything before the day for Route 2. You may want to open the Browser lab once in advance just to confirm it loads on your machine.

No accounts, no purchases

The day is deliberately free of accounts and sign-ups. In particular, you do not need:

  • git or a GitHub account – nothing in the day depends on version control. If you want to learn it, the optional Git and GitHub companion module is there for afterwards.
  • an OSF account – you will see how preregistration works on the Open Science Framework and complete one yourself, but as a template inside your own report. No account required.
  • paid software – everything used is free and open.
  • any sign-up at all – you can arrive, take part in full and leave without creating a single account.

Give yourself two screens

When the workshop runs online, you will get the most out of it with a little room to work:

  • Two surfaces help. Join the video call on one screen (or one device), and keep a second window or a second device free for your own work – Positron for Route 1, or the browser lab for Route 2. That way you can follow the shared screen and do the hands-on tasks side by side, without one covering the other.
  • The links arrive with your joining instructions. The call link, and any session-specific links, come to you with the joining details. You do not need to hunt for anything in advance beyond the setup on this page.

Read ahead if you like

None of these is required, and everything is taught on the day. If you would like to arrive with some context, these are worth the time, with one line each on why.

Reading Why it is worth the time
Nosek et al. (2018) – The preregistration revolution A short, readable primer on the one idea on which preregistration depends: the difference between predicting a result and explaining one after the fact. It speaks directly to the case where the data already exist, which is ours.
The AsPredicted eight-question form The exact template you will fill in during the session. Skim the eight questions once so the form feels familiar rather than a cold start.
van den Akker et al. (2021) – Preregistration of secondary data analysis The fuller preregistration template built for exactly our situation – reanalysing data that already exist. Optional, but it is the more thorough tool for the job you do on the day.
Reading a specification curve The workshop’s own reading for the final part of the day: what a large set of results together can and cannot establish, and why thousands of estimates are not thousands of tests.