Theory Development

Arrested Theory Development: The Misguided Distinction Between Exploratory and Confirmatory Research

Science progresses by finding and correcting problems in theories. Good theories are those that help facilitate this process by being hard to vary: They explain what they are supposed to explain, they are consistent with other good theories, and they …

Is Preregistration Worthwhile?

Proponents of preregistration argue that, among other benefits, it improves the diagnosticity of statistical tests. In the strong version of this argument, preregistration does this by solving statistical problems, such as family-wise error rates. In …