[IPAC-List] "False Positive Psychology"

[Reid Klion]

There is an interesting article in Psychological Science (free
download!: http://pss.sagepub.com/content/22/11/1359.full.pdf) on the
perils of what the authors call unchecked "researcher degrees of
freedom" that can readily lead to false positive findings in the
never-ending search for "statistically significant" publishable results.
They point out how when researchers don't disclose things like all the
variables collected in the study, failed manipulations, and the specific
rationale for the statistical analysis that was ultimately used, the
probability of obtaining false positive findings increases (which they
demonstrate by "showing" how subjects listening to the Beatles song "
When I'm Sixty-Four" makes them older vs. subjects who listened to other
music.) They go on to provide useful suggestions for both authors and
reviewers to help mitigate these risks.  

 

Reid

 

 

 

Reid E. Klion, Ph.D.

Chief Science Officer

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