Research Methods in Psychology

Study Notes

Researchers often include multiple dependent variables in experiments, especially exploratory research.
Sometimes only one variable shows a strong effect, while others do not.
Reporting only strong effects misleads the reader about the overall strength of the evidence.
HARKing (Hypothesizing After the Results are Known) occurs when predictions are made after the results are known, making the findings seem stronger than they are.
P-hacking is a practice where researchers might remove outliers, recalculate scores differently, or change statistical methods to get the desired result.
Researchers often do not intentionally p-hack, but biases can still creep into research procedures.
Reporting only the strongest results, without detailing all analyses, can misrepresent the evidence for a theory.
Transparent research practices help to reduce unintentional bias.
Transparent methods make scientists accountable to themselves and the scientific community.

Open science practices involve sharing data and materials freely, enabling collaboration.
Sharing data (Open Data) allows other researchers to verify results and perform additional analyses.
Researchers can share materials (Manipulations, measures), and protocols for other studies to replicate the work, and thus strengthen the findings.
Preregistration is when scientists publicly declare their methods, hypotheses, and analyses before data collection.
Preregistration provides transparency and helps to verify that data analyses occurred prior to results.
Preregistration gives researchers credit for the quality of their study design, not just the results themselves.