Three steps to open science for qualitative research in psychology

Principles and applications of open science (also referred to as open research or open scholarship) in psychology have emerged in response to growing concerns about the replicability, transparency, reproducibility, and robustness of psychological research alongside global moves to open science in many fields. Our objective in this paper is to inform ways of collectively constructing open science practices and systems that are appropriate to, and get the best out of, the full range of qualitative and mixed-method approaches used in psychology. We achieve this by describing three areas of open research practice (contributorship, pre-registration, and open data) and explore how and why qualitative researchers might consider engaging with these in ways that are compatible with a qualitative research paradigm. We argue it is crucial that open research practices do not (even inadvertently) exclude qualitative research, and that qualitative researchers reflect on how we can meaningfully engage with open science in psychology.     

Recommendations for Increasing Replicability in Psychology

Replicability of findings is at the heart of any empirical science. The aim of this article is to move the current replicability debate in psychology towards concrete recommendations for improvement. We focus on research practices but also offer guidelines for reviewers, editors, journal management, teachers, granting institutions, and university promotion committees, highlighting some of the emerging and existing practical solutions that can facilitate implementation of these recommendations. The challenges for improving replicability in psychological science are systemic. Improvement can occur only if changes are made at many levels of practice, evaluation, and reward. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Walking as a ‘Radicalized’ Critical Psychological Method? A Review of Academic,Artistic and Activist Contributions to the Study of Social Environments

The study of social environments is a neglected site of research not only in psychology, but across academic disciplines ranging from human geography to cultural studies. This paper will review contributions to studying social environments through academic writings, situationism and psychogeographical groups. It will be argued that disorientating walking practices can be used as a means to reflect on experiences of places in order to begin to think how social environments could be radically changed. It is important to question the taken for granted ways that people make sense of urban environments. It is argued that psychogeographic practice can be used to extend qualitative epistemologies and methods to argue for a ‘turn to place’ in psychology and to open up new methods and approaches in critical psychology. Finally, the implications for radicalizing critical psychological research methods will be considered in relation to the current status of critical psychology, which suffers from an apathetic vision of radicalism and criticality.     

Optimizing the scientific study of suicide with open and transparent research practices

Suicide research is vitally important, yet—like psychology research more broadly—faces methodological challenges. In recent years, researchers have raised concerns about standard practices in psychological research, concerns that apply to suicide research and raise questions about its robustness and validity. In the present paper, we review these concerns and the corresponding solutions put forth by the “open science” community. These include using open science platforms, pre‐registering studies, ensuring reproducible analyses, using high‐powered studies, ensuring open access to research materials and products, and conducting replication studies. We build upon existing guides, address specific obstacles faced by suicide researchers, and offer a clear set of recommended practices for suicide researchers. In particular, we consider challenges that suicide researchers may face in seeking to adopt “open science” practices (e.g., prioritizing large samples) and suggest possible strategies that the field may use in order to ensure robust and transparent research, despite these challenges.     

Future of counseling psychology research

The author offers a critique on current counseling psychology research from her perspective as a US counseling psychology researcher and editor. She notes that unless something happens to change the trajectory, future US counseling psychology research will be open to the same criticisms. She summarizes counseling psychology values and argues that counseling psychology research reflects those values. She then identifies five ways that counseling psychology could be different in the future by: building theory-based research, embracing diversity of populations, research questions and methodologies, informing (and being informed) by other psychological disciplines, and informing policy and practice.     

The Replication Crisis and Qualitative Research in the Psychology of Religion

ABSTRACT

This article forms a contribution to the discussion on the “replication crisis” in psychology from the qualitative research perspective and qualitative-oriented psychology of religion. The main theme of our article is, how should we deal, as qualitative-oriented psychologists of religion, with the issue of replicability? The introductory part of the article concentrates on validity criteria within qualitative-oriented research, and why qualitative-oriented psychologists of religion should take them into consideration in their research projects. Next, a typology of approaches (Intuitive, Field, Pragmatic, Synthetic), toward replication within qualitative studies is presented. Alongside discussing the possible ways of making qualitative research more replicable, examples of good practices in that matter are discussed. Some takeaway tips for qualitative-oriented psychologists of religion, that are to be used in order to make their research more replicable, are presented in the concluding part. Promoting CAQDAS, developing clear research protocols and procedures, describing the cultural context of the research in detail and discussing methodological issues and barriers/limitations of the study in a separate section are one of the main ideas postulated in the article, that should be included in the future qualitative studies on religion (s). The article concludes with a plea of sorts, that qualitative-oriented researchers do need to pay more attention to methodological issues while designing a research project, keeping in mind that it can (and should) be replicated in the future.     

The future of psychotherapy outcome research: science or political rhetoric?

Although the relationship between research and clinical psychology has at times been conflicted, it has also been productive. Psychologists from both specialties have benefited from each others' work. The area of psychotherapy outcome research represents an important interface between the fields of clinical and research psychology. In an era of scarce resources and demands for accountability, there is pressure for researchers to justify the value of clinical practices. Recently, numerous articles have appeared recommending changes to the way psychotherapy research is conducted. The authors of these articles emphasize with urgency the importance of conducting and reporting research in a manner that will influence the decisions of policymakers and sanction funding for psychotherapy services. This article is an exploration of the impact of these recommendations, whose objective appears to be the promotion of psychological techniques for inclusion in clinical practice guidelines. It is argued that such recommendations may be in conflict with the philosophy and methods of science and may adversely affect public perception, perhaps leading psychologists to be seen as political lobbyists rather than clinicians and researchers.     

Free will,bound and unbound: reflections on Shaun Nichols’ <Emphasis Type="Italic">bound</Emphasis>

Nichols’ Bound presents interesting new angles on traditional debates about free will and moral responsibility, relating them to the latest empirical research in psychology, social sciences and experimental philosophy. In experimental philosophy, he cites numerous recent studies showing that there are strong incompatibilist strands in folk intuitions about free will and responsibility, taking issue with other recent studies claiming that folk intuitions are predominantly compatibilist. But he also argues that incompatibilist folk intuitions are based on faulty reasoning and cannot be realized. We are left with a choice between an eliminativism about free will and moral responsibility (free will skepticism) or revising ordinary beliefs and practices in a compatibilist direction. Though Nichols sees problems with both these positions, he ultimately opts for the latter. Despite agreeing with Nichols on many points, I argue in this paper that he takes the libertarian view of free will off the table too precipitously, leaving us with too narrow a choice of options. I argue that we can make sense of an incompatibilist view of free will and responsibility without reducing it to mere chance or mystery and that it remains an open scientific question whether we can have such a free will.     

Psychology in Pursuit of Justice: The Lives and Works of Emmanuel Levinas and Ignacio Martín-Baró

Psychological research and theory are inherently political and social practices. As such, these authors assert that social justice must be a primary concern of the psychological sciences. In case study format, the authors use the exceptional lives and works of continental philosopher Emmanuel Levinas and social psychologist Ignacio Martín-Baró to exemplify the recognition that justice must be centrally infused into psychological thought and practice. The life and work of philosopher Levinas is characterized by a concern for how Western philosophy has funded constructs of selfhood and identity that have created moral anemia and hampered our responsibility to others. Martín-Baró, a prominent Latin American researcher and educator, found research to be a powerful tool to expose oppressive social systems and widespread deception in an effort to end unjust practices, thereby affecting social change. Biographical material and details concerning their systems of research and thought will be used to illustrate what it means to engage in morally-just research and theorizing within the field of psychology.     

Why Clinical Psychology Needs to Engage in Community‐Based Approaches to Mental Health

The aim of this article is to advocate for clinical psychology to engage with community‐based approaches to mental health. This engagement will be challenging given community work is antithetical to the individualism that defines much of clinical psychology. It would also result in a direct challenge to the core tenets of our profession, including an emphasis on individualism, psychopathology, and expert‐driven intervention. We need clinical psychology, however, to decolonise itself to respond to the needs of Aboriginal communities and those from non‐Western collectivist cultures. We also need clinical psychology to consider the sociopolitics of human distress and lend itself to social action for complex problems. Specific examples of community‐based practices will be provided, focusing specifically on those that relate to mental health. Implication for the reform of research methodologies and classroom pedagogies will also be discussed.     

What Can We Learn from Many Labs Replications?

Several hundred research groups attempted replications of published effects in so-called Many Labs studies involving thousands of research participants. Given this enormous investment, it seems timely to assess what has been learned and what can be learned from this type of project. My evaluation addresses four questions: First, do these replication studies inform us about the replicability of social psychological research? Second, can replications detect fraud? Third, does the failure to replicate a finding indicate that the original result was wrong? Finally, do these replications help to support or disprove any social psychological theories? Although evidence of replication failures resulted in important methodological changes, the 2015 Open Science Collaboration findings sufficed to make the point. To assess the state of social psychology, we have to evaluate theories rather than randomly selected research findings.     

市场规范与社会规范冲突视角下的奖励推荐计划作用机制

奖励推荐计划(referral reward program, RRP)越来越成为企业获取新顾客和保留老顾客的有力武器, 然而有关RRP对消费者推荐行为影响的研究却较为匮乏。从RRP引发社会规范与市场规范冲突的视角出发, 以营销学、动机心理学、情绪心理学及行为经济学为基础, 系统研究RRP对推荐行为的影响。具体内容包括：研究奖励框架与社会规范对消费者推荐动机的作用; 探究情绪在动机一致性与推荐行为之间的中介作用; 关注因果定向、自我意识及文化价值观等自我层面因素对以上过程的调节作用。将主要采用系列实验并结合神经营销学方法, 力图彻底搞清现有研究中的争论话题和填补研究空白, 这对从社会规范与市场规范相冲突的视角探讨以动机为主题的RRP研究具有重要的理论意义, 同时对中外企业了解奖励对消费者推荐行为的影响机制以及设计合理有效的RRP具有显著的指导意义。     

In Search Of True Things Worth Knowing: Considerations For A New Article Prototype

Within social and personality psychology, the existing “old prototype” of a publishable article is at odds with new expectations for transparent reporting. If researchers anticipate having to report everything while continuing to aim for a research product that includes multiple studies, examining a novel effect, with only statistically significant results, this will have negative implications for initial decisions about what research to conduct. First, researchers will be discouraged from collecting additional data because this could potentially mar existing findings. Second, they will be discouraged from pursuing questions for which the answers are unknown, as this would be a waste if the results do not fit old‐prototype expectations. These practices undermine what seem to be two universal values within personality and social psychology: truth and interestingness. Suggestions for a “new prototype” that de‐emphasizes p‐value cutoffs, multiple studies, and novelty will be discussed with an eye toward encouraging research decisions that foster true and interesting findings.     

Sequential validation of cluster analytic subtypes of homeless veterans

To identify subgroups within the homeless population, a number of researchers have employed cluster analytic statistical procedures. Although this is an appropriate application of cluster analysis, many studies have not employed important statistical safeguards against arbitrary results. This study demonstrates a cluster analytic procedure—sequential validation—that enhances the replicability, external validity, and cross-validity of cluster solutions. The procedure is applied to a nationwide sample of 745 homeless veterans. After 12 different clustering procedures were subjected to derivation, replication, external validation, and cross-validation phases, a 4-cluster Ward solution emerged as the most sound. Substantively, the clusters were an alcoholic subtype, a psychiatrically impaired subtype, a best functioning subtype, and a multiproblem subtype. The generalizability of these subgroups to other contexts was assessed by comparing them to subgroups identified in other homelessness research. Suggestions were made for improving the quality of cluster analytic research in community psychology.     

Jungian metapsychology and neurobiological theory

This paper deals with brain research and depth psychology. Because brain research is becoming significantly more sophisticated and increasingly able to assay the neurobiology of subjective (i.e. mental) events in vivo , it is suggested that any school of depth psychology will probably not survive as a mainstream treatment modality if its theory and practice is found to be in frank variance with the findings of the modern neurosciences. Jung's psychology is compared to Freud's and shown to be reasonably consonant with such findings. Historical highlights of Jung's non-reductive way of conceptualizing and working are presented and put in the context of more recent scientifically defensible concepts (emergence, supervenience, complexity theory) from the fields of both philosophy of science and philosophy of mind. These concepts postulate a hierarchical model of reality which permits an exploration of the mind/brain relationship without resorting to reductionism or dualism. A sense of the present struggle is conveyed between the proponents of these and more traditional scientific concepts. Finally, the nature of mind/brain confluence is elucidated by examples from the areas of learning, memory, and the capacity to symbolize in order to illustrate how clinical practices and observations familiar to experienced depth therapists and also in agreement with Jungian theory are compatible with neuroscientific findings. A research suggestion is offered.     

The imperative to support Black youths in resisting low and limiting expectations

Harmful narratives circulate about Black youths in North America. Deficit narratives portray them, their culture, and their communities as problems, narratives about policing encourage their control and punishment, color-evasive narratives ignore how race shapes their experiences, and essentialist narratives erase their distinct and often intersectional experiences by presenting them as monolithic. Community psychology and allied fields do not escape these trends, which in turn infuse practice, research, and teaching involving Black youths. The present paper highlights four principles that community psychology and allied fields can adopt to support Black youths in resisting these negative and narrow narratives. They are: (1) emphasizing Black youths' and Black communities' strengths, (2) supporting their agency, (3) adopting culturally relevant practices, and (4) developing critical consciousness through reflections on and deconstruction of these narratives. We hope that the reflections shared in this paper will expand the perspectives infused by researchers and practitioners in community psychology, social work, urban studies, and allied fields who work with Black youths.     

Authorship and Publication Practices in the Social Sciences: Historical Reflections on Current Practices

An historical review of authorship definitions and publication practices that are embedded in directions to authors and in the codes of ethics in the fields of psychology, sociology, and education illuminates reasonable agreement and consistency across the fields with regard to (a) originality of the work submitted, (b) data sharing, (c) human participants’ protection, and (d) conflict of interest disclosure. However, the role of the professional association in addressing violations of research or publication practices varies among these fields. Psychology and sociology provide active oversight with sanction authority. In education, the association assumes a more limited role: to develop and communicate standards to evoke voluntary compliance. With respect to authorship credit, each association’s standards focus on criteria for inclusion as an author, other than on the author’s ability to defend and willingness to take responsibility for the entire work. Discussions across a broad range of research disciplines beyond the social sciences would likely be beneficial. Whether improved standards will reduce either misattribution or perceptions of inappropriate attribution of credit within social science disciplines will likely depend on how well authorship issues are addressed in responsible conduct of research education (RCR), in research practice, and in each association’s ongoing efforts to influence normative practice by specifying and clarifying best practices.     

Holistic movement practices – An emerging category of physical activity for exercise psychology

BackgroundExercise psychology has an interest in physical activity behaviour and the psychological dimensions of physical activity delivery and outcomes. Holistic movement practices (HMPs) can be defined as physical practices embedded in holistic philosophies of well-being. As such, they go beyond what is typically offered in exercise contexts to purposefully include mental, emotional, social and/or spiritual components. Traditional Eastern movement practices (e.g., Yoga, Tai Chi, Qigong) are examples of HMPs, but a range of lesser known “Western-born” HMPs (e.g., 5Rhythms, Biodanza) also exist. HMPs have not yet received much structured attention within exercise psychology.ObjectiveTo analyse the nature of HMPs and discuss their relevance to the field of exercise psychology, with a view to raising awareness of HMPs within exercise psychology as well as encouraging and supporting future research.ContentWe discuss what we see as commonalities among HMPs and argue that it is useful to treat HMPs as a category of physical activity for exercise psychology, not only because they are forms of physical activity but also because psychological dimensions are an integral and purposeful part of these practices. We provide a tentative conceptualization of HMP philosophies, with brief examples, and consider how exercise psychology's subfields of participation behaviour, delivery parameters, outcomes, and mechanisms are applicable to the study of HMPs. Last, we briefly explore research issues, including HMPs' multicomponent nature, selected potential mechanisms, and methodologies.ConclusionHMPs are part of the leisure-based physical activities landscape in many modern societies, and deserve attention by exercise psychologists. Their embeddedness in holistic philosophies and multicomponent nature provide unique opportunities and challenges for research in exercise psychology.