Evidence map›Paper›PMID 28805739›Full record

ArticleBehavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland)2017

Four Bad Habits of Modern Psychologists.

James Grice, Paul Barrett, Lisa Cota, Crystal Felix, Zachery Taylor, Samantha Garner, Eliwid Medellin, Adam Vest

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland), 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
11citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Levels of Burnout and Risk Factors in Medical Area Nurses: A Meta-Analytic Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2018
    Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Review
  4. Capturing the Heterogeneity of Word Learners by Analyzing Persons.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024
    Article
  5. Review
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Review
  11. Small is beautiful: In defense of the small-N design.Psychonomic bulletin & review · 2018
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

James GriceDepartment of Psychology, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078, USA. james.grice@okstate.edu.
Paul BarrettDepartment of Psychology, University of Auckland, Auckland 2120, New Zealand. paul@pbarrett.net.
Lisa CotaDepartment of Psychology, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078, USA. lisa.cota@okstate.edu.
Crystal FelixDepartment of Psychology, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078, USA. crystal.felix@okstate.edu.
Zachery TaylorDepartment of Psychology, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078, USA. zachery.taylor@okstate.edu.
Samantha GarnerDepartment of Psychology, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078, USA. samantha.garner@okstate.edu.
Eliwid MedellinDepartment of Psychology, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078, USA. eliwid@okstate.edu.
Adam VestDepartment of Psychology, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078, USA. adam.vest@okstate.edu.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Four data sets from studies included in the Reproducibility Project were re-analyzed to demonstrate a number of flawed research practices (i.e., "bad habits") of modern psychology. Three of the four studies were successfully replicated, but re-analysis showed that in one study most of the participants responded in a manner inconsistent with the researchers' theoretical model. In the second study, the replicated effect was shown to be an experimental confound, and in the third study the replicated statistical effect was shown to be entirely trivial. The fourth study was an unsuccessful replication, yet re-analysis of the data showed that questioning the common assumptions of modern psychological measurement can lead to novel techniques of data analysis and potentially interesting findings missed by traditional methods of analysis. Considered together, these new analyses show that while it is true replication is a key feature of science, causal inference, modeling, and measurement are equally important and perhaps more fundamental to obtaining truly scientific knowledge of the natural world. It would therefore be prudent for psychologists to confront the limitations and flaws in their current analytical methods and research practices.

Indexed as

inferencemeasurementmodelingNHSTObservation Oriented Modelingreplication

Identifiers

PMID28805739
PMCPMC5618061

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.