Conceptual and Statistical Knowledge

HARKing: Hypothesizing after the results are known

This article considers a practice in scientific communication termed HARKing (Hypothesizing After the Results are Known). HARKing is defined as presenting a post hoc hypothesis (i.e., one based on or informed by one's results) in one's research …

Heterogeneity in effect size estimates

A typical empirical study involves choosing a sample, a research design, and an analysis path. Variation in such choices across studies leads to heterogeneity in results that introduce an additional layer of uncertainty, limiting the generalizability …

History and Methods of Psychology Syllabus

This course is designed to expose students to the history of psychology through a study of the methods used in research over time, with an emphasis on methods used in developmental psychology. Unlike most traditional history of psychology courses, we …

History and Philosophy of Psychology

In this course, we will examine the on-going methodological controversies around psychology, cognitive science, and cognitive neuroscience. We will look at the question of replication, statistical reform, measurement of psychological attributes, …

Improving (Our) Science

The goal of science is to accumulate knowledge about nature. There are scientific values guiding how scientists should work, and scientific practices guiding how scientists do work. This course will examine the discrepancy between scientific values …

Improving (Our) Science: Reproducibility, Reporting, and Openness

The goal of the course is to become a better scientist. You will learn about newest standards for scientific openness, and how they influence the reporting and interpretation of empirical evidence. One component of the course is an intervention to …

Improving the Dependability of Research in Personality and Social Psychology: Recommendations for Research and Educational Practice

In this article, the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP) Task Force on Publication and Research Practices offers a brief statistical primer and recommendations for improving the dependability of research. Recommendations for research …

In Praise of the Null Hypothesis Statistical Test

Jacob Cohen (see record 1995-12080-001) raised a number of questions about the logic and information value of the null hypothesis statistical test (NHST). Specifically, he suggested that: (1) The NHST does not tell us what we want to know; (2) the …

Inappropriate fiddling with statistical analyses to obtain a desirable p-value: tests to detect its presence in published literature.

Much has been written regarding p-values below certain thresholds (most notably 0.05) denoting statistical significance and the tendency of such p-values to be more readily publishable in peer-reviewed journals. Intuition suggests that there may be a …

Inconsistent multiple testing corrections: The fallacy of using family-based error rates to make inferences about individual hypotheses

During multiple testing, researchers often adjust their alpha level to control the familywise error rate for a statistical inference about a joint union alternative hypothesis (e.g., “H1,1 or H1,2”). However, in some cases, they do not make this …