Week 7; Replications Flashcards
Repetition
The process of repeating research to determine the extent to which findings generalise across time and across situations
Benefit of Repetition
-Protects against false positives
- Increases confidence that a result actually exists
Problem with Psychological Research
-Often does not replicate
- Reduces credibility of psychological research
- Only about 36% of psychological research is replicated
Biggest Sin of Science
Faking Results
Exact/ Direct Replication
A scientist attempts to exactly recreate the scientific methods used in conditions of an earlier study to determine whether the results come out the same
- Tests reliability of original findings
- i.e. an exact replication of Asch’s study would have al male participants
Conceptual Replication
-A scientific attempt to copy the hypothesis used in an earlier study in an effort to determine whether the results will generalise to different samples, times or situations.
-These same- or similar- results are an indicator that the findings are generalisable
- i.e. a conceptual replication of Asch’s study could have both male and female participants
Confederate
An actor working with the researcher. Most often, this researcher is used to deceive unsuspecting research participants
Falsified Data
-Data that is fabricated or made up by researchers that are intentionally trying to pass off research questions that are inaccurate
- Serious ethical breach and can even be a criminal offence
Sample Sizes and Replication
-Studies with small sample sizes may obtain statistically significant results entirely by chance
- If you replicate these studies, it is unlikely that you will find a similarly small sample size that share the same opinions
Generalisability and Replication
- While the findings in an original study may be true, they may only be true for some people in some circumstances and not necessarily universal or enduring
- i.e. a survey in 1950 reporting strong trust in the US government may have different results now
Replication and Quality
-Sometimes the replication may not have followed the original study closely enough or have issue with sampling
- The replication is wrong not the original study
6 Principles of Open Science
- Open Data
- Open Source
- Open methodology
-Open Access - Open Peer Review
- Open Educational Resources
Reproducibility in Studies
There must be sufficient detail available about the research procedure to allow it to be repeated
How do we decide of a finding is replicable or not
- Even if an effect is real, it is unreasonable to expect that every single study that examines it would show evidence for the effect
- Similarly, a single replication is not enough to inform decisions or judge replicability
- Multiple, independent replications is best
Barriers to Replication
- Take resources and energy away from other projects that reflects one’s original thinking
- Independent, direct replications can be time consuming, may not receive funding and not be prioritized in publication
- Bring less recognition and reward to author
Overcoming Barriers to Replication
- ‘Social Psychology’ journal had a special issue in 2013 where they only published replications
- Most papers failed to find evidence consistent with original studies
Publication Bias
Journals tend to prioritise novel results rather than replications
