Summary
Summary 2.3 History and Methods of Psychology: Problem 7
- Course
- Institution
Summary of the literature, videos, tutorials, and exercises for problem 7 of course 2.3 History and Methods of Psychology.
[Show more]
Seller
Followkianakyla
Reviews received
Content preview
PROBLEM 7AN AGENDA FOR PURELY CONFIRMATORY RESEARCH
• cannot find your starting hypothesis in your final results. It makes things all wonky
• Confirmation bias: people seek confirmation rather than disconfirmation of their beliefs
- Ambiguous info is interpreted to be consistent with one’s prior beliefs
- People tend to search for info that confirms rather than disconfirms their hypothesis
- More easily remember info that supports their position
• Hindsight bias: tendency to judge an event as more predictable after it has occurred.
• Indication that bias influences the research process:
- Researchers seek to confirm not falsify their main hypothesis
• Impact of Bias: puts a premium on output quantity
- Researchers attracted to methods and procedures that maximizes the probability of
publication
- Ecologically rational behavior à maximizes the proximal goals of the researcher
• Effects on the field: (concerns)
- Many published results may simply be false à obtained partially by dubious or
inappropriate methods of observation, analysis and reporting
• Main “fairy-tale factor” = the fact that researchers do not commit themselves to a plan of
analysis before they see the data
- Can fine tune the analyses to the data (makes data appear to be more compelling than
really is)
- Increases the probability that presented finding if fictional and non-replicable
• Radical Remedy = preregistration
- To ensure scientific integrity and inoculate the research process against biases of
human reasoning
BAD SCIENCE: Exploratory findings, confirmatory conclusions
• Bad = flawed design, faulty logic,
• Factor the reduces confidence and enthusiasm for scientific finding
- Fact that almost no psychological research is conducted in purely confirmatory
fashion
- Rarely indicate specific analyses they intended to carry out before data collection
, - Explore various transformations of the data, rely on one-sided p values and construct
post-hoc hypothesis that have been tailored to fit observed data
- Cherry picking – they can measure many variables (gender, personality
characteristics, age etc.) and only report those that yield the desired result
- They can include in their papers only those experiments that produce the desired
outcome, even though the experiment was designed as a pilot experiment that could
easily be discarded has the results turned out less favourably
• Some researchers believe they are giving valuable advice
- Researchers want to conform their hypothesis
• For purpose of hypothesis testing, data may only be used once
- When looking for patterns, have used the data to help formulate a specific hypothesis
- No longer appropriate to test hypothesis is helped suggest
- Need fresh data set
• Common areas for mistakes à research question, amount of data collected, prior beliefs of
the researcher
• The interpretation of common statistical tests in terms of type 1 and type 2 error rates is valid
only if:
1. the data were used only once
2. the statistical test was not chosen on the basis of suggestive patterns in the data
- double dipping - if you carry out a hypothesis test on the very data that inspired the
test in the first place - then the statistics are invalid
Exploratory Research
Far left à researchers finding hypothesis in the data by post-hoc theorizing and corresponding
statistics are “wonky”. Overestimating the evidence of the hypothesis
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller kianakyla. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for $3.22. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
Can Stuvia be trusted?
4.6 stars on Google & Trustpilot (+1000 reviews)
53340 documents were sold in the last 30 days
Founded in 2010, the go-to place to buy study notes for 14 years now