View source for Psychological research

{{Short description|Research about behaviors of individuals or groups}}
{{For|the academic journal|Psychological Research}}
{{cleanup|reason=Too many sections, not enough context|date=August 2012}}
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'''[[Psychological]] research''' refers to [[research]] that [[psychologist]]s conduct for systematic study and for [[analysis]] of  the [[experience]]s and [[behaviour|behavior]]s of individuals or groups. Their research can have [[educational psychology|educational]], [[Occupational health psychology|occupational]]  and [[clinical psychology|clinical]] [[Applied psychology|applications]].

== History ==
[[Wilhelm Wundt]] is credited as one of the founders of [[psychology]]. He created the first [[laboratory]] for psychological research.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Spielman |first=Rose M. |url=https://openstax.org/books/psychology/pages/2-introduction |title=Psychology |last2=Dumper |first2=Kathryn |last3=Jenkins |first3=William |last4=Lacombe |first4=Arlene |last5=Lovett |first5=Marilyn |last6=Perlmutter |first6=Marion |date=Dec 8, 2014 |publisher=OpenStax |location=Houston, Texas |chapter=2 - Psychological Research}}</ref>

== Philosophical foundations ==
{{Main article|Philosophy of mind|Philosophy of psychology}}

== Ethical considerations ==
{{Main article|Human subject research|Animal testing}}

Psychological research risks harming the subjects of the research. In order to prevent that harm, proposed studies are usually approved by an [[institutional review board]]  to ensure that the risks to the research subjects are justified by the anticipated benefits.<ref>The Office of Human Research Protection. Institutional Review Board Guidebook. "Chapter 3, Section A: Risk/Benefit Analysis." pp. 1-10 [http://www.saylor.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/PSYCH202A-3.1.4-Institutional-Review-Board.pdf] Retrieved January 13, 2023</ref> IRBs also verify that [[Informed Consent|informed consent]] has been obtained. This involves documenting that the subject (or legally authorized representative) agrees to being a subject after having been informed of what the research is about, risks and benefits to the subject, that the subject may discontinue participation at any time, and how personally identifiable information will be handled.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ecfr.gov/on/2018-07-19/title-45/subtitle-A/subchapter-A/part-46#46.116 |title=8 CFR 46 - PROTECTION OF HUMAN SUBJECTS: 46.116 General requirements for informed consent. |publisher=United States Government |accessdate=2023-01-13}}</ref>

Some research, such as the [[Milgram experiment]], have raised questions about the [[research ethics]] and resulted in the revision of the ethical standards of psychological research.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Tolich |first=Martin |date=June 2014 |title=What can Milgram and Zimbardo teach ethics committees and qualitative researchers about minimizing harm? |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1747016114523771 |journal=Research Ethics |language=en |volume=10 |issue=2 |pages=86–96 |doi=10.1177/1747016114523771 |issn=1747-0161}}</ref>

== Methodology ==
{{Main article|List of psychological research methods}}

Psychologists use many [[methodology|research methods]], and categorical distinctions of these methods have emerged. Methods can be categorized by the kind of data they produce: [[Qualitative psychological research|qualitative]] or [[Quantitative psychological research|quantitative]]—and both these are used for [[Pure research|pure]] or [[applied research]].

[[Psychology]] tends to be [[eclecticism|eclectic]], applying knowledge from other fields. Some of its methods are used within other areas of research, especially in the [[social sciences|social]] and [[behavioural sciences]].

=== Experimental methods ===
{{main article|Experiment|Experimental psychology}}

The field of psychology commonly uses experimental methods in what is known as [[experimental psychology]]. Researchers design experiments to test specific [[Hypothesis|hypotheses]] (the [[deductive reasoning|deductive approach]]), or to evaluate functional relationships (the [[inductive reasoning|inductive approach]]).

The method of experimentation involves an experimenter changing some influence—the ''[[independent variable]](IV)''— on the research subjects, and studying the effects it produces on an expected aspect—the ''[[dependent variable]] (DV)''— of the subjects behaviour or experience.<ref name="randomHouse">{{cite book |title=Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary. |date=2001 |publisher=Random House Reference |location=New York |isbn=978-0-375-42566-0 |edition = 2nd, rev. and updated | pages = 534, 971 }}</ref> Other variables researchers consider in experimentation are known as the ''[[extraneous variables]]'', and are either ''controllable'' or ''confounding'' (more than one variable at play).

Confounding variables are external variables that are not taken into account when conducting an experiment.<ref>{{Cite journal| vauthors = Sugden R |date=2021-03-01|title=Hume's experimental psychology and the idea of erroneous preferences |journal=Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization|language=en|volume=183|pages=836–848|doi=10.1016/j.jebo.2020.11.017|s2cid=229395880|issn=0167-2681|doi-access=free}}</ref> Because they are not controlled for, they can skew experiments results and provide a false or unreliable conclusion. For example, the psychologist Seymour Feshbach conducted an experiment to see how violence on television (the independent variable), affected aggression in adolescent boys (the dependent variable). He published his results in a paper called ''Television and Aggression'' in 1971. The paper showed that, in some cases, the lack of violence on television made the boys ''more'' aggressive.<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Feshbach S, Singer RD | title=Television and Aggression: An Experimental Field Study | publisher=Jossey-Bass | series=The Jossey-Bass behavioral science series | year=1971 | isbn=978-0-87589-083-8 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vYaFAAAAIAAJ | access-date=12 March 2022 | page= | id=[[ERIC]] [https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED062791 ED062791]}}</ref> This was due to a confounding variable, which in this case was [[frustration]].<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Tachibana Y, Hasegawa E | title = Aggressive responses of adolescents to an hypothetical frustrative situation | journal = Psychological Reports | volume = 58 | issue = 1 | pages = 111–8 | date = February 1986 | pmid = 3961055 | doi = 10.2466/pr0.1986.58.1.111 | s2cid = 42652059 }}</ref> This means that extraneous variables are important to consider when [[Design of experiments|designing experiments]], and many methods have emerged to [[Scientific control|scientifically control them]]. For this reason, many experiments in [[psychology]] are conducted in [[laboratory]] conditions where they can be more strictly regulated.

Alternatively, some experiments are less controlled. [[Quasi-experiment]]'s are those that a researcher sets up in a controlled environment, but does not control the independent variable. For example, Michael R. Cunningham used a quasi-experiment to "...measure the physical in physical attractiveness."<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Cunningham MR | title = Measuring the physical in physical attractiveness: quasi-experiments on the sociobiology of female facial beauty | journal = Journal of Personality and Social Psychology | date = May 1986 | volume = 50 | issue = 5 | pages = 925–935 | doi = 10.1037/0022-3514.50.5.925 }}</ref> On the other hand, in [[field experiment]]s the experimenter controls an independent variable (making it the control variable), but does not control the environment where the experiment takes place. Experimenters sometimes apply fewer controls, as a way to lessen potential biases. In a ''[[true experiment]]'', participants are randomly chosen to remove the chance of [[experimenter's bias]].<ref>{{cite web | vauthors = Sommer B | work = University of California – Davis |url=http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/SommerB/sommerdemo/experiment/types.htm|title=Experiments: Types|access-date=2012-07-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141219220204/http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/faculty_sites/sommerb/sommerdemo/experiment/types.htm|archive-date=2014-12-19|url-status=dead}}</ref>

=== Observational methods ===
{{Main article|Observational study}}

''Observational research,'' (a type of non-experimental, [[Correlational research|correlational]] research), involves the researcher observing the ongoing behavior of their subjects.<ref name="psych.csufresno.edu">{{cite web |url=http://psych.csufresno.edu/psy144/Content/Design/Nonexperimental/observation.html | vauthors = Price P, Oswald K |title=Observational Research | work = California State University, Fresno |access-date=2012-07-19 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://archive.today/20121214185456/http://psych.csufresno.edu/psy144/Content/Design/Nonexperimental/observation.html |archive-date=2012-12-14 }}

</ref> There are multiple methods of observational research such as ''participant observations'', ''non-participant observations'' and ''naturalistic observations''.<ref name="psych.csufresno.edu" />

Participant observations are methods that involve a researcher joining the particular social group they are studying. For example, the [[Social psychology|social psychologist]], [[Leon Festinger]] and his associates, joined a group called ''The Seekers'' in order to observe them. The Seekers believed they were in touch with aliens, and that the aliens had told them the world was about to end.<ref name="Leon Festinger 1956">{{cite book | vauthors = Festinger L, Riecken H, Schachter S | author-link1 = Leon Festinger | author-link2 = Henry W. Riecken | author-link3 = Stanley Schachter | title = When Prophecy Fails: A Social and Psychological Study of a Modern Group that Predicted the End of the World. | publisher = University of Minnesota Press | date = 1956 | isbn = 978-1-5154-3079-7 | doi = 10.1037/10030-000 }}</ref> When the foretasted event did not happen, Festinger and his associates observed how the attitudes of the group members changed. They published their results in a 1956 book called ''[[When Prophecy Fails]]''. [[David Rosenhan]] in 1973 published a journal that involved research by participant observations.<ref name="psych.csufresno.edu" />'' see: [[:Rosenhan experiment|on being sane in insane places]]''.

The other method of observational research is non-participant observation. In particular  [[Naturalistic observation|naturalistic methods]] are methods that simply study behaviours that occur naturally in natural environments—with no manipulation by the observer.<ref name=KCherry>{{cite web | vauthors = Cherry K |title=What Is Naturalistic Observation? |url=http://psychology.about.com/od/nindex/g/naturalistic.htm |publisher=About.com |access-date=15 May 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Psychology 202Q Lab: Naturalistic Observation |url=http://www.sp.uconn.edu/~ps202vc/PDF/NaturalisticObservation.pdf |publisher=University of Connecticut |access-date=15 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928070826/http://www.sp.uconn.edu/~ps202vc/PDF/NaturalisticObservation.pdf |archive-date=28 September 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The events studied ''must'' be natural and not staged. This fact gives naturalistic observational research a high [[ecological validity]].<ref name="psych.csufresno.edu" /> During naturalistic observations, researchers can avoid interfering with the behavior they are observing by using [[Unobtrusive research|unobtrusive]] methods,<ref name=NatObs>{{cite web | vauthors = Pierce T |title=Naturalistic Observation Lecture Notes |publisher=radford.edu |url=http://www.radford.edu/~tpierce/201%20files/201%20handouts/Naturalistic%20Observationl%20ecture%20notes.pdf |access-date=15 May 2011}}</ref> if needed.

Both types of observational methods are designed to be as [[wikt:reliability|reliable]] as possible. Reliability can be estimated using ''inter-observer reliability'', that is, by comparing observations conducted by different researchers.<ref name=":4" /> ''Intra-observer reliability'' means estimating the reliability of an observation using a comparison of observations conducted by the same researcher. The reliability of conducted studies is important in any field of [[science]].<ref>{{cite book | vauthors =  Walker IR | date = January 2011 | title = Reliability in Scientific Research: Improving the Dependability of Measurements, Calculations, Equipment, and Software | location = Cambridge | publisher = Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-139-49335-2 |url=http://www.cambridge.org/gb/knowledge/isbn/item2711519/?site_locale=en_GB }}</ref>

''For a [[statistics|statistical]] perspective of reliability, see also'' [[Reliability (statistics)]].

=== Descriptive methods ===
{{Main article|Descriptive research}}

All [[Science|scientific]] processes begin with a description based on observation. Theories may develop later to explain these observations<ref>{{cite web | title = Descriptive/Correlational Research | url = https://www.cliffsnotes.com/study-guides/psychology/psychology/research-methods-in-psychology/descriptivecorrelational-research | work = CliffsNotes }}</ref> or classify associated phenomena.<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Babbie E | date = 1989 | title = The Practice of Social Research. | edition = 5th | location = Belmont CA | publisher = Wadsworth | isbn = 978-0-534-09727-1 }}</ref> In [[scientific methodology]], the conceptualizing of descriptive research precedes the [[Hypothesis|hypotheses]] of "explanatory research".<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Shields PM, Tajalli H | title = Intermediate theory: The missing link in successful student scholarship. | journal = Journal of Public Affairs Education | date = September 2006 | volume = 12 | issue = 3 | pages = 313–34 | doi = 10.1080/15236803.2006.12001438 | s2cid = 141201197 | url = http://ecommons.txstate.edu/polsfacp/39/ }}</ref>

An example of a descriptive device used in psychological research is the ''[[diary]]'', which is used to record observations. There is a history of use of diaries within [[clinical psychology]].<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Thiele C, Laireiter AR, Baumann U | title = Diaries in clinical psychology and psychotherapy: A selective review. | journal = Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy | date = January 2002 | volume = 9 | issue = 1 | pages = 1–37 | doi =  10.1002/cpp.302 }}</ref> Examples of psychologists that used them include [[B.F. Skinner]] (1904–1990) and [[Virginia Axline]] (1911–1988). A special case of a diary in this context, that has particular importance in [[Developmental psychology|development psychology]], is known as the ''baby biography'',<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Magai C, McFadden SH | title =  The role of emotions in social and personality development: History, theory and research. | series = Emotions, Personality, and Psychotherapy | volume = 1 | publisher = Springer Science & Business Media | date = February 1995 | isbn = 978-0-306-44866-9 }}</ref> and was used by psychologists such as [[Jean Piaget]].

Other recording methods can include video or audio. For example, [[Forensic psychology|forensic psychologists]] record custodial interrogations to aid law enforcement.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Lassiter GD, Lindberg MJ | title = Video recording custodial interrogations: Implications of psychological science for policy and practice. | journal = The Journal of Psychiatry & Law. | date = March 2010 | volume = 38 | issue = 1–2 | pages = 177–92 | doi = 10.1177/009318531003800108 | s2cid = 146850991 }}</ref>

=== Case studies ===
{{Main article|Case study in psychology}}

A ''case study''—or ''case report''—is an intensive analysis of a person, group, or event that stresses developmental factors related to the context. Case studies may be descriptive or explanatory. Explanatory case studies explore causation to identify underlying principles.<ref>{{cite book| vauthors = Shepard J, Greene RW | author-link1 = Jon M. Shepard | title = Sociology and You| publisher = Glencoe McGraw-Hill| year = 2003| location = Ohio| pages = A–22| url = http://www.glencoe.com/catalog/index.php/program?c=1675&s=21309&p=4213&parent=4526| isbn = 978-0-07-828576-9| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100308100024/http://www.glencoe.com/catalog/index.php/program?c=1675&s=21309&p=4213&parent=4526| archive-date = 2010-03-08}}</ref><ref name="Yin">{{cite book | vauthors = Yin RK | author-link1 = Robert K. Yin | title = Case Study Research: Design and Methods | edition = Fourth | publisher = SAGE Publications | location = California | date = 2009 | isbn = 978-1-4129-6099-1}}</ref> However, there is a debate to whether case studies count as a [[Scientific method|scientific]] research method. [[Clinical psychology|Clinical psychologists]] use case studies most often, especially to describe [[Abnormal psychology|abnormal]] events and conditions, which are particularly important in [[clinical research]].<ref name="Christensen">{{cite book | vauthors = Christensen LB | date = 1994 | title = Experimental methodology | edition = 6th | publisher = Simon & Schuster | location = Needham Heights, MA. | isbn = 978-0-205-15506-4 }}</ref> [[Sigmund Freud]] made extensive use of case studies to formulate his theory of [[psychoanalysis]].

Famous case studies include: [[Anna O.]] and [[Rat Man]] of Freud's [[Genie (feral child)|Genie]], who is one of the most severe cases of [[social isolation]] ever recorded,<ref>{{cite book | title=Concise Encyclopedia of Special Education | editor1=Reynolds, Cecil R. |editor2=Fletcher-Janzen, Elaine | publisher=John Wiley and Sons | year=2004 | isbn=978-0-471-65251-9 | page=428 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V6CG5RzC2nkC&pg=PA428}}</ref> and [[Washoe (chimpanzee)|Washoe]], a [[Common chimpanzee|chimpanzee]] who was the first non-human that had learned to communicate using [[American Sign Language]].<ref>{{Cite book| vauthors = Livingston JA |chapter=other selves|editor1=Vitek, William |editor2=Jackson, Wes|title=Rooted in the land: essays on community and place|publisher=Yale University Press|year=1996|isbn=978-0-300-06961-7|page=133|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NZ3UfrZkSDsC&pg=PA133}}</ref>

=== Surveys ===
{{Main article|Statistical survey}}

{{blockquote|Interviews and questionnaires intrude as a foreign element into the social setting they would describe, they create as well as measure attitudes, they elicit atypical role and response, they are limited to those who are accessible and who will cooperate, and the responses obtained are produced in part by dimensions of individual differences irrelevant to the topic at hand.<ref name = "Webb_1966">{{cite book | vauthors = Webb EJ, Campbell DT, Schwartz RD, Sechrest L | title = Unobtrusive measures: Nonreactive research in the social sciences. | location = Chicago | publisher = Rand McNally | date = 1966 | url = https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/unobtrusive-measures-nonreactive-research-social-sciences | isbn = 978-0-528-68694-8 | oclc = 924711048}}</ref>}}

Bradburn et al. (1979) found a tendency for survey respondents to over-report socially desirable behaviors when interviewed using less anonymous methods.<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Bradburn NM, Sudman S, Blair E, Locander W, Miles C, Singer E, Stocking C | title = Improving interview method and questionnaire design: Response effects to threatening questions in survey research. | location = San Francisco | publisher = Jossey-Bass | date = 1979 | url = https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/improving-interview-method-and-questionnaire-design-response }}</ref>

=== Psychometric methods ===
{{main|Psychometrics}}
Psychometrics is a field of study concerned with the theory and technique of psychological measurement. One part of the field is concerned with the objective measurement of skills and knowledge, abilities, attitudes, personality traits, and educational achievement.

=== Archival methods ===
{{main|Archival research}}
Archival research can be defined as the study of existing data. The existing data is collected to answer research questions. Existing data sources may include statistical records, survey archives, previous history and written records.<ref name=":4" />

=== Cross-sectional methods ===
{{main|Cross-sectional study}}
Cross-sectional research is a research method often used in developmental psychology, but also utilized in many other areas including social science and education. This type of study utilizes different groups of people who differ in the variable of interest, but share other characteristics such as socioeconomic status, educational background, and ethnicity.<ref name=":4" />

For example, researchers studying developmental psychology might select groups of people who are remarkably similar in most areas, but differ only in age.<ref name=":4" />

=== Longitudinal methods ===
{{main|Longitudinal study}}
Longitudinal research is a type of research method used to discover relationships between variables that are not related to various background variables. This observational research technique involves studying the same group of individuals over an extended period of time.<ref name=":4" />

Data is first collected at the outset of the study, and may then be gathered repeatedly throughout the length of the study. In some cases, longitudinal studies can last several decades.<ref name=":4" />

=== Cohort methods ===
{{main|Cohort study}}
Essentially, cohort refers to people who are approximately the same age. When researchers conduct different types of studies (for example, developmental/cross sectional studies), they use cohorts to see how people of different ages compare on some topic at one point in time. For example, a researcher may compare the effects of a new study aid in three different cohorts: 10th graders, 11th graders, and 12th graders. In this way, you can examine the study aid across three different grade levels.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Galbraith |first=Sally |last2=Bowden |first2=Jack |last3=Mander |first3=Adrian |date=February 2017 |title=Accelerated longitudinal designs: An overview of modelling, power, costs and handling missing data |url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5302089/ |journal=Statistical Methods in Medical Research |volume=26 |issue=1 |pages=374–398 |doi=10.1177/0962280214547150 |issn=0962-2802 |pmc=5302089 |pmid=25147228}}</ref>

=== Cross-cultural methods ===
{{main|Cross-cultural psychology}}
Cross-cultural psychology is a branch of psychology that looks at how cultural factors influence human behavior.<ref>Ho, D. Y. F., & Wu, M. (2001). Introduction to cross-cultural psychology. In L. L. Adler & U. P. Gielen (Eds.), ''Cross-cultural topics in psychology'' (pp. 3–13). Westport, CT: Praeger.</ref>

=== Computational methods ===
{{main|Computer simulations in psychology}}
A discipline lying on the border between artificial intelligence and psychology. It is concerned with building computer models of human cognitive processes and is based on an analogy between the human mind and computer programs. The brain and computer are viewed as general-purpose symbol-manipulation systems, capable of supporting software processes, but no analogy is drawn at a hardware level.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Cambridge handbook of computational psychology |date=2008 |publisher=Cambridge Univ. Press |isbn=978-0-521-85741-3 |editor-last=Sun |editor-first=Ron |edition=1. publ |location=Cambridge}}</ref>

=== Unobtrusive methods ===
{{Main article|Unobtrusive research}}

The term ''unobtrusive measures'' was first coined by Eugene Webb, Campbell, Schwartz, and Sechrest in a 1966 book, ''Unobtrusive methods: Nonreactive research in the social science'',<ref name = "Webb_1966" /> in which they described methods that do not involve direct induction of data from research subjects. For example, the evidence people leave behind as they traverse their physical environment is unobtrusive. Unobtrusive methods get around biases, such as the [[selection bias]] and the [[experimenter's bias#Social sciences|experimenter's bias]], that result from the researcher and his intrusion. Consequently, however, these methods reduce the researcher's control over the type of data collected.<ref>{{cite web | vauthors = Trochim WM |url= http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/unobtrus.php |title=Unobtrusive Measures | work = Conjoint.ly }}</ref>

Web and others regard these methods as an additional tools to use with the more common ''reactive'' and ''intrusive methods''.<ref name="Webb_1966" />

== Criticisms of Research in Psychology ==
There are several factors that need to be considered when conducting and evaluating psychological research. One of these considerations is in how political values influence the publication and application of psychological research. For example, a study was published about child sexual abuse and how it might relate to psychopathology in college students.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Lilienfeld |first=Scott O. |date=2010-09-01 |title=Can psychology become a science? |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0191886910000425 |journal=Personality and Individual Differences |series=Collected works from the Festschrift for Tom Bouchard, June 2009: A tribute to a vibrant scientific career |volume=49 |issue=4 |pages=281–288 |doi=10.1016/j.paid.2010.01.024 |issn=0191-8869}}</ref> Though the findings claimed nothing extreme, both the political right and political left put so much pressure on the APA that eventually, the APA formally apologized for the study publicly stating that they had failed. Nothing in the methodology could be blamed, simply the implications of the findings in the study.<ref name=":0" />

Another part of psychological research that must be considered is that though we yearn for clarity in the psychological world, results are not often clean-cut. Other words, results found in one psychological study are usually not enough to establish a relationship between two factors.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Simmons |first=Joseph P. |last2=Nelson |first2=Leif D. |last3=Simonsohn |first3=Uri |date=November 2011 |title=False-Positive Psychology: Undisclosed Flexibility in Data Collection and Analysis Allows Presenting Anything as Significant |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0956797611417632 |journal=Psychological Science |language=en |volume=22 |issue=11 |pages=1359–1366 |doi=10.1177/0956797611417632 |issn=0956-7976}}</ref> In order to support a hypothesis further, replication studies should be conducted. Alternate hypotheses should also be explored and considered.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Stroebe |first=Wolfgang |last2=Postmes |first2=Tom |last3=Spears |first3=Russell |date=November 2012 |title=Scientific Misconduct and the Myth of Self-Correction in Science |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1745691612460687 |journal=Perspectives on Psychological Science |volume=7 |issue=6 |pages=670–688 |doi=10.1177/1745691612460687 |issn=1745-6916}}</ref> However, incentives to conduct replication studies are extremely low, so they do not happen often. When they do happen, they are usually not accepted by publishers.<ref name=":1" />

The current culture around publishing psychological research promotes almost solely new and appealing research. Replications, negative results, and further research into novel findings are rarely published.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last=Nosek |first=Brian A. |last2=Spies |first2=Jeffrey R. |last3=Motyl |first3=Matt |date=November 2012 |title=Scientific Utopia |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1745691612459058 |journal=Perspectives on Psychological Science |volume=7 |issue=6 |pages=615–631 |doi=10.1177/1745691612459058 |issn=1745-6916|pmc=10540222 }}</ref> Consequently, to many researchers, it seems that gaining more funds along with a reputation for exciting research has become more important than seeking out the truth.

The peer review process is another aspect of psychological research that has been criticized. Though there are some positive aspects to the peer review process, it is not designed well enough to detect fraud. There are many studies that have passed through several peer reviews that have later been found to be fraudulent.<ref name=":2" />

== See also ==
* [[Experimental psychology]]
* [[List of psychological research methods]]
* [[Natural experiment]]
* [[Quantitative psychological research]]
* [[Qualitative psychological research]]
* [[Scientific method]]
* [[Design of experiments]]
* [[Sociological research]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== Further reading ==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book | vauthors = Stangor C | date = 2007 | title = Research Methods for the Behavioral Sciences. | edition = 3rd | location = Boston, MA | publisher = Houghton Mifflin Company | isbn = 978-0-618-70591-7 }}
* {{cite book | vauthors = Weathington BL, Cunningham CJ, Pittenger DP | date = 2010 | title = Research Methods for the Behavioral and Social Sciences. | location = Hoboken, NJ | publisher = John Wiley & Sons, Inc. | isbn = 978-1-119-47009-0 | oclc = 1003488834 }}
{{refend}}

[[Category:Psychological methodology|*]]
[[Category:Research]]