Peer Review

Question 1

what is a peer review?

Answer 1

the assessment of scientific work by secialists in the same field to ensure any research publicised is high quality

Question 2

3 features of the peer group

Answer 2

1. objective
2. no vested interest
3. unknown to researcher/author

Question 3

where is psychological research usually published?

Answer 3

scientific journals

Question 4

3 aims of peer review

Answer 4

1. validate quality and relevance of research
2. allocate research funding for a proposed research project
3. suggest improvements and prevent fraudulent research being published

Question 5

4 aspects of research that are reveiwed for releevance and quality

Answer 5

1. formulation of hypotheses
2. methodology chosen
3. stats tests used
4. conclusions drawn

Question 6

+, -, counter

evaluation of peer review in terms of anonymity of peers

Answer 6

• if peer anonymous, allows more honest review
• may give unjust criticism of rival researchers
• open reviews may be used, where names of peers given to avoid this

Question 7

what may cause a false impression of current psychology?

Answer 7

research my be rejected by journals if it doesn’t meet the ‘headline grabbing’ criteria journalists have to get more engagement

Question 8

what two things may cause ground-breaking research to be buried?

Answer 8

1. reviewers may suppress opposition to mainstream ideas to mintain status quo i specific areas
2. reviewers likely to criticise reserach that opposes their own