Chapter 14: Replication, Transparency, & Real-World Importance Flashcards
What makes a study important?
- To be important, a study must be replicated.
- Does it have to be generalizable?
a. Generalization mode? Then yes
b. Theory-testing mode? Then no - Does it have to have real world applicability? It’s complicated . . .
Replicable
Describing a study whose results have been reproduced when the study was repeated, or replicated. Gives a study credibility.
Direct replication
A replication study in which researchers repeat the original study as closely as possible to see whether the original effect shows up in the newly collected dat.a
Conceptual replication
A replication study in which researchers examine the same research question (the same conceptual variables) but use different procedures for operationalizing variables.
Replication-plus-extension
A replication study in which researchers replicate their original study but add variables or conditions that test additional questions.
Replication crisis
Journals prefer to publish new research and not
replications. So, replications are rarely published (particularly direct replications).
A large group of psychologists (Open Science
Collaboration) selected 100 studies from 3 major
psychology journals to attempt to replicate. Only 39% were success replications.
Improvements to Scientific Practice
- Larger sample sizes
- Report all analyses and variables
- Open Science Collaboration
- Preregistration
Meta-analysis
A way of mathematically averaging the effect sizes of all the studies that have tested the same variables to see what conclusion that whole body of evidence supports.
File drawer problem
A problem relating to literature reviews and meta-analyses based only on published literature, which might overestimate the support for a theory because studies finding null effects are less likely to be published than studies finding significant results, and are thus less likely to be included in such reviews.
Ecological validity
The extent to which the tasks in manipulations of a study are similar to real world context; an aspect of external validity. The focus is on whether a laboratory study
generalizes to real-world settings.
Theory-testing mode
A researcher’s intent for a study, testing association claims or causal claims to investigate support for theory. External validity is not the priority!
Generalization mode
The intent of researchers to generalize the findings from the samples and procedures in their study to other populations or contexts. External validity is
essential!
Which mode?
Frequency claims: always in generalization mode
Association and causal claims: sometimes in generalization mode, more often theory-testing.
Field-setting
A real-world setting for a research study. Has high external validity, but doesn’t mean the results would
generalize to all people, in all settings. Plus, researchers can create real situations in the laboratory
(experimental realism).
Experimental realism
The extent to which a laboratory experiment is designed so that participants experience authentic emotions, motivations, and behaviors.
Scientific literature
A series of related studies, conducted by various researchers, that have tested similar variables.
HARKing
A questionable research practice in which researchers create an after-the-fact hypothesis about an unexpected research result, making it appear as if they predicted it all along. Stands for “hypothesizing after the results are known.”
p-hacking
A family of questionable data analysis techniques, such as adding participants after the results are initially analyzed, looking for outliers, or trying new analyses in order to obtain a p-value of just under .05, which can lead to nonreplicable results. The practice of p-hacking is misleading when others are not told about all the different ways the data were analyzed and only the strongest version is reported.
Underreporting null effects
Researchers mislead about the strength of the evidence by not reporting conditions or measures that did not support the hypothesis.
Using small samples
In a small sample, a few chance values can influence the data set, so the study’s estimate is imprecise and less replicable.
Open science
The practice of sharing one’s data, hypotheses, and materials freely so others can collaborate, use and verify the results.
Open data
When psychologists provide their full data set on the Internet so other researchers can reproduce the statistical results or even conduct new analyses on it.
Open materials
When psychologists provide their study’s full set of measures and manipulations on the Internet so others can see the full design or conduct replication studies.
Pre-registration
A term referring to a study in which, before collecting any data, the researcher has stated publicly what the outcome is expected to be.
Cultural psychology
A subdiscipline of psychology concerned with how cultural settings shape a person’s thoughts, feelings, and behavior, and how these in turn shape cultural settings.
