Duration: 01/09/2025- 31/08/2028
Code: PID2024-155508NA-I00
Funded by: Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades

Web project: https://natevidence.blogs.uv.es/

Principal Investigator: Saúl Pérez-González (University of Valencia) and Víctor J. Luque (University of Valencia).
Research Team: Valeriano Iranzo (University of Valencia), María Jiménez-Buedo (UNED), Cristian Saborido (UNED), and Jesús Zamora-Bonilla (UNED).
Work Team: Francisco Alcalá (IVIE-University of Valencia), Mattia Andreoletti (ETH Zurich), Caterina Marchionni (University of Milan), Losner Briones (UNED), Alberto Monterde (UPV/EHU), Marco Antonio Portillo (UNED),
Aida Roige (University Carlos III), and Jorge Sevilla (UNED).

SUMARY

Since its emergence in the early 1990s, the evidence-based approach has gained considerable prominence and widespread acceptance across various fields. It is widely acknowledged that decision-making should be guided by the best available evidence; in diverse areas such as drug regulation, public policy, and ecological interventions, evidence has become our compass. However, can we confidently assert that current methodologies and frameworks for producing and evaluating evidence are truly adequate and reliable? Over the past few decades, philosophers, methodologists, and practitioners have raised critical concerns about foundational aspects of the evidence-based framework. In response to these critiques, new practices and methodologies for the production and evaluation of evidence have been proposed.

The research project New approaches to evidence: theoretical and practical developments (NATE) seeks to examine, analyse, and critically assess these emerging approaches. The NATE’s starting hypothesis is that while these new proposals aim to address specific limitations of the existing evidence-based paradigm, they may themselves introduce new challenges and concerns. NATE will focus on three key developments related to evidence. First, it will investigate evidential pluralism, which argues that evidence of mechanisms should play a more prominent role in assessing causal claims. Second, it will examine the increasing reliance on computer simulations as sources of evidence, particularly in fields where empirical studies are limited. Finally, it will assess various proposals related to external validity and causal extrapolation, which seek to enhance the generalisability of empirical findings and improve the reliability of causal inferences. By systematically evaluating these emerging approaches, NATE aims to contribute to a deeper understanding of the evolving landscape of evidence production and assessment, and its practical implications.