Research Integrity: Best Practices for the Social and Behavioral Sciences

Description

The primary goal of science is to "get it right," meaning that scientists seek to accurately document the world as it is. While erroneous conclusions and flawed theories can and do occur, they can only be tolerated as long as reliable mechanisms of self-correction exist, but an array of recent evidence suggests that this is not always the case. This book offers a behavioral science perspective on how scientific practice becomes compromised and provides recommendations for improvement. Broadening the discussion of research integrity beyond replication, publication biases, statistics, and methods, this book addresses the full complexity of the issue and serves academics and policy makers concerned with the reliability and validity of scientific findings across the social sciences. It tackles challenges presented by published reports and textbooks, addresses the ways that institutional review boards (IRBs) can influence the course of research, and discusses the weaknesses of meta-analysis, which is often recommended as a possible corrective measure for suboptimal scientific practice. The book concludes with an organizing framework to investigate how scientists' behaviors can impact the reliability and validity of scientific research. Cover Half-Title Title Copyright Dedication Contents Preface Contributors 1. Science Reform 2. Improving Research Transparency in the Social Sciences: Registration, Preregistration, and Multiple Testing Adjustments 3. What Can We Do About Our (Untrustworthy) Literature? 4. Is Science in Crisis? 5. Accuracy and Completeness in the Dissemination of Classic Findings in Social Psychology 6. Strengths and Weaknesses of Meta-Analyses 7. Statistical Inference in Behavioral Research: Traditional and Bayesian Approaches 8. Stimulus Sampling and Research Integrity 9. Questionable Interpretive Practices: Data (Mis)Interpretation and (Mis)Representation as Threats to Scientific Validity 10. Questionable Research Practices 11. P-hacking: A Strategic Analysis 12. The Importance of Type III and Type IV Epistemic Errors for Improving Empirical Science 13. Publication Bias in the Social Sciences: A Threat to Scientific Integrity 14. Let’s Peer Review Peer Review 15. Impact and Influence of the Institutional Review Board: Protecting the Rights of Human Subjects in Scientific Experiments 16. Viral Science and the Tragedy of the Scientific Commons Index