Our job as scientists is to discover truths about the world. During the experimental procedure, researchers have many decisions to make, for example should more data be collected? Should some observations be excluded? This flexibility in research procedures dramatically increases false-positive rates.
In this article, the authors provide computer simulations and experiments demonstrating how easy it could be to report statistically significant evidence for a false hypothesis. We present this article to stimulate in-depth reflections about the impact of four common ambiguous practises: flexibility in (1) choosing among dependent variables, (2) choosing sample size, (3) using covariates, and (4) reporting subsets of experimental conditions. Finally, we want to suggest a simple and low-cost solution to this problem, showing six concrete requirements for authors and four guidelines for reviewers.
The article: https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797611417632
When: April 28th 2022
Presenters: Deborah Ferrante and Margherita Andrao
False Positive Psychology.pptx