False-positive psychology: Undisclosed flexibility in data collection and analysis allows presenting anything as significant

Joseph P. Simmons, Leif D. Nelson, U. Simonsohn

Producció científica: Article en revista indexadaArticleAvaluat per experts

4756 Cites (Scopus)

Resum

In this article, we accomplish two things. First, we show that despite empirical psychologists' nominal endorsement of a low rate of false-positive findings (≤.05), flexibility in data collection, analysis, and reporting dramatically increases actual false-positive rates. In many cases, a researcher is more likely to falsely find evidence that an effect exists than to correctly find evidence that it does not. We present computer simulations and a pair of actual experiments that demonstrate how unacceptably easy it is to accumulate (and report) statistically significant evidence for a false hypothesis. Second, we suggest a simple, low-cost, and straightforwardly effective disclosure-based solution to this problem. The solution involves six concrete requirements for authors and four guidelines for reviewers, all of which impose a minimal burden on the publication process.

Idioma originalAnglès
Pàgines (de-a)1359-1366
Nombre de pàgines8
RevistaPsychological Science
Volum22
Número11
DOIs
Estat de la publicacióPublicada - de nov. 2011
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