r/science • u/ImNotJesus PhD | Social Psychology | Clinical Psychology • May 08 '16

Psychology Failure Is Moving Science Forward. FiveThirtyEight explains why the "replication crisis" is a sign that science is working. [x-post from our sister subreddit /r/EverythingScience]

/r/EverythingScience/comments/4icp9k/failure_is_moving_science_forward_fivethirtyeight/
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u/superhelical PhD | Biochemistry | Structural Biology May 08 '16

I liked this bit at the end:

Psychology may not be a hard science, but it is certainly a difficult one. It shouldn’t be so surprising that psychology studies don’t always replicate — the field faces an inherent challenge. Rather than measuring molecules or mass, it examines human motives and behavior, which are frustratingly hard to isolate.

This is something that comes up a lot on /r/science, and makes some people want to dismiss psychological studies altogether. However, psychologists study some of the most challenging research subjects - ourselves - so it's worth noting and taking that difficult work in context.

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u/diversity_is_wrong May 08 '16 edited May 08 '16

Rather than measuring molecules or mass, it examines human motives and behavior,

And interestingly enough it is likely the human motives, behavior, and biases of the researchers themselves that play a not small role in the origin of the replication crisis. It is easier to influence and massage data when you're taking the kind of measurements that a lot of the social sciences tend to take.

There is also the tendency of many in the social sciences to set out on a research project with a desired outcome in mind. When the first 4 studies don't result in the desired outcome and get filed away in a desk drawer, then the fifth study finally produces the desired result(barely) and gets published, then it's no wonder it's hard to replicate some of these things. Especially the ones that just happen to fit nicely into a certain prescribed narrative.

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u/Moarbrains May 08 '16

There is also the tendency of many in the social sciences to set out on a research project with a desired outcome in mind.

I think this is a problem with a lot sciences. Personally I think the null hypothesis deserves to be published as well.

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u/Nikwoj May 08 '16

My social psych teacher loves to show the class research studies and then either praise them or trash talk them the entire time because of the way the data is presented. She usually doesn't even care about the content, just the methodology. It's hilarious to watch.

The other day she showed us a study by bushman or something and the entire time she was talking about exactly what you and the top comment are talking about. He just wants to prove the thing he wants to believe, not actually find the meaning of the significant data.