The seven deadly sins of psychology : a manifesto for reforming the culture of scientific practice : with a new preface by the author

**Why psychology is in peril as a scientific discipline—and how to save it** Psychological science has made extraordinary discoveries about the human mind, but can we trust everything its practitioners are telling us? In recent years, it has become increasingly apparent that a lot of research in psychology is based on weak evidence, questionable practices, and sometimes even fraud. __The Seven Deadly Sins of Psychology__ diagnoses the ills besetting the discipline today and proposes sensible, practical solutions to ensure that it remains a legitimate and reliable science in the years ahead. In this unflinchingly candid manifesto, Chris Chambers draws on his own experiences as a working scientist to reveal a dark side to psychology that few of us ever see. Using the seven deadly sins as a metaphor, he shows how practitioners are vulnerable to powerful biases that undercut the scientific method, how they routinely torture data until it produces outcomes that can be published in prestigious journals, and how studies are much less reliable than advertised. He reveals how a culture of secrecy denies the public and other researchers access to the results of psychology experiments, how fraudulent academics can operate with impunity, and how an obsession with bean counting creates perverse incentives for academics. Left unchecked, these problems threaten the very future of psychology as a science—but help is here. Outlining a core set of best practices that can be applied across the sciences, Chambers demonstrates how all these sins can be corrected by embracing open science, an emerging philosophy that seeks to make research and its outcomes as transparent as possible. This book presents an alternative for traditional null hypothesis testing. It builds on the idea that researchers usually have more informative research-questions than the "nothing is going on" null hypothesis, or the "something is going on" alternative hypothesis. To be more precise, researchers often express their expectations in terms of expected orderings in parameters, for instance, in group means. This book introduces a novel approach, wherein theories or expectations of empirical researchers are translated into one or more so-called informative hypotheses, i.e., hypotheses imposing inequality constraints on (some of) the model parameters. As a consequence, informative hypotheses are much closer to the actual questions researchers have and therefore make optimal use of the data to provide more informative answers to these questions. A Bayesian approach is used for the evaluation of informative hypotheses and is introduced at a non-technical level in the context of analysis of variance models. Technical aspects of Bayesian evaluation of informative hypotheses are also considered and different approaches are presented by an international group of Bayesian statisticians. Furthermore, applications in a variety of statistical models including among others latent class analysis and multi-level modeling are presented, again at a non-technical level. Finally, the proposed method is evaluated from a psychological, statistical and philosophical point of view. This book contains numerous illustrations, all in the context of psychology. The proposed methodology, however, is equally relevant for research in other social sciences (e.g., sociology or educational sciences), as well as in other disciplines (e.g., medical or economical research). The editors are all affiliated at the faculty of Social Sciences at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. Herbert Hoijtink is a professor in applied Bayesian statistics at the Department of Methodology and Statistics. Irene Klugkist is assistant professor at the same department, and Paul A. Boelen is assistant professor at the Department of Clinical and Health Psychology "Psychological science has made extraordinary discoveries about the human mind, but can we trust everything its practitioners are telling us? In recent years, it has become increasingly apparent that a lot of research in psychology is based on weak evidence, questionable practices, and sometimes even fraud. The Seven Deadly Sins of Psychology diagnoses the ills besetting the discipline today and proposes sensible, practical solutions to ensure that it remains a legitimate and reliable science in the years ahead. In this unflinchingly candid manifesto, Chris Chambers draws on his own experiences as a working scientist to reveal a dark side to psychology that few of us ever see. Using the seven deadly sins as a metaphor, he shows how practitioners are vulnerable to powerful biases that undercut the scientific method, how they routinely torture data until it produces outcomes that can be published in prestigious journals, and how studies are much less reliable than advertised. He reveals how a culture of secrecy denies the public and other researchers access to the results of psychology experiments, how fraudulent academics can operate with impunity, and how an obsession with bean counting creates perverse incentives for academics. Left unchecked, these problems threaten the very future of psychology as a science--but help is here. Outlining a core set of best practices that can be applied across the sciences, Chambers demonstrates how all these sins can be corrected by embracing open science, an emerging philosophy that seeks to make research and its outcomes as transparent as possible."--Résumé de l'éditeur Chris Chambers Draws On His Own Experiences As A Working Scientist To Reveal A Dark Side To Psychology That Few Of Us Ever See. Using The Seven Deadly Sins As A Metaphor, He Shows How Practitioners Are Vulnerable To Powerful Biases That Undercut The Scientific Method, How They Routinely Torture Data Until It Produces Outcomes That Can Be Published In Prestigious Journals, And How Studies Are Much Less Reliable Than Advertised. He Reveals How A Culture Of Secrecy Denies The Public And Other Researchers Access To The Results Of Psychology Experiments, How Fraudulent Academics Can Operate With Impunity, And How An Obsession With Bean Counting Creates Perverse Incentives For Academics ... Outlining A Core Set Of Best Practices That Can Be Applied Across The Sciences, Chambers Demonstrates How All These Sins Can Be Corrected By Embracing Open Science, An Emerging Philosophy That Seeks To Make Research And Its Outcomes As Transparent As Possible.--provided By Publisher. The Sin Of Bias -- The Sin Of Hidden Flexibility -- The Sin Of Unreliability -- The Sin Of Data Hoarding -- The Sin Of Corruptibility -- The Sin Of Internment -- The Sin Of Bean Counting -- Redemption. Chris Chambers. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. This book provides an overview of the developments in the area of Bayesian evaluation of informative hypotheses that took place since the publication of the ?rst paper on this topic in 2001 [Hoijtink, H. Con?rmatory latent class analysis, model selection using Bayes factors and (pseudo) likelihood ratio statistics. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 36, 563–588]. The current state of a?airs was presented and discussed by the authors of this book during a workshop in Utrecht in June 2007. Here we would like to thank all authors for their participation, ideas, and contributions. We would also like to thank Sophie van der Zee for her editorial e?orts during the construction of this book. Another word of thanks is due to John Kimmel of Springer for his con?dence in the editors and authors. Finally, we would like to thank the Netherlands Organization for Scienti?c Research (NWO) whose VICI grant (453-05-002) awarded to the ?rst author enabled the organization of the workshop, the writing of this book, and continuation of the research with respect to Bayesian evaluation of informative hypotheses. Why psychology is in peril as a scientific discipline—and how to save it Psychological science has made extraordinary discoveries about the human mind, but can we trust everything its practitioners are telling us? In recent years, it has become increasingly apparent that a lot of research in psychology is based on weak evidence, questionable practices, and sometimes even fraud. The Seven Deadly Sins of Psychology diagnoses the ills besetting the discipline today and proposes sensible, practical solutions to ensure that it remains a legitimate and reliable science in the years ahead. In this unflinchingly candid manifesto, Chris Chambers shows how practitioners are vulnerable to powerful biases that undercut the scientific method, how they routinely torture data until it produces outcomes that can be published in prestigious journals, and how studies are much less reliable than advertised. Left unchecked, these and other problems threaten the very future of psychology as a science—but help is here. "Psychological science has made extraordinary discoveries about the human mind, but can we trust everything its practitioners are telling us? In recent years, it has become increasingly apparent that a lot of research in psychology is based on weak evidence, questionable practices, and sometimes even fraud. The Seven Deadly Sins of Psychology diagnoses the ills besetting the discipline today and proposes sensible, practical solutions to ensure that it remains a legitimate and reliable science in the years ahead. In this unflinchingly candid manifesto, Chris Chambers shows how practitioners are vulnerable to powerful biases that undercut the scientific method, how they routinely torture data until it produces outcomes that can be published in prestigious journals, and how studies are much less reliable than advertised. Left unchecked, these and other problems threaten the very future of psychology as a science--but help is here."-- Publisher's website Contents Preface Chapter 1. The Sin of Bias Chapter 2. The Sin of Hidden Flexibility Chapter 3. The Sin of Unreliability Chapter 4. The Sin of Data Hoarding Chapter 5. The Sin of Corruptibility Chapter 6. The Sin of Internment Chapter 7. The Sin of Bean Counting Chapter 8. Redemption Notes Index This book diagnoses the ills besetting psychology today and proposes sensible, practical solutions to ensure that it remains a legitimate and reliable science in the years ahead Offers the philosophical, statistical and psychological foundation for the evaluation of informed hypotheses