Pitfalls in Human Research
Ten Pivotal Points
Published on 22. October 2013
126 pages
978-1-4831-3803-9 (ISBN)
Description
Pitfalls in Human Research examines 10 ten pivotal points in human research where investigators and experimenters can go astray. Two questions are addressed: At what pivotal points in the complex research process can the experimental study go astray and give rise to misleading results and conclusions? What steps can researchers take to avoid these pitfalls? To answer these questions, those aspects of experimental studies that are under the control of the investigator as well as those aspects that are under the control of the experimenter are examined. This book begins by making a distinction between the investigator and the experimenter, arguing that their roles are functionally quite different. The discussion then turns to the 10 pitfalls in human research, divided into investigator effects and experimenter effects: investigator paradigm effect; investigator experimental design effect; investigator loose procedure effect; investigator data analysis effect; investigator fudging effect; experimenter personal attributes effect; experimenter failure to follow the procedure effect; experimenter misrecording effect; experimenter fudging effect; and experimenter unintentional expectancy effect. This monograph will be a useful resource for both investigators and experimenters, as well as those who utilize research results in their teaching or practice.
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01/1979
Pergamon
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Content
IntroductionPitfall I. Investigator Paradigm Effect Tenacity of Paradigms and Resistance to New Discoveries Failing to "See" Events and "Seeing" Non-Existent Events Paradigms in Psychology Paradigms versus Pet Theories or Hypotheses Recommendations and ConclusionsPitfall II. Investigator Experimental Design EffectPitfall III. Investigator Loose Procedure EffectPitfall IV. Investigator Data Analysis Effect Pitfalls in Data Analysis: Two Illustrative Studies Illustrative Study 1 Illustrative Study 2 Summary Recommendations Motivations for Positive ResultsPitfall V. Investigator Fudging Effect Some Instances of Fudging Newton, Dalton, Mendel The Summerlin Case Parapsychology Other Recent Cases Motivations for Fudging Motivations for Honesty Experimenter EffectsPitfall VI. Experimenter Personal Attributes Effect Failure to Control for Other Attributes Failure to Assess Interactive Effects Failure to Sample Psychological Tasks ConclusionsPitfall VII. Experimenter Failure to Follow the Procedure EffectPitfall VIII. Experimenter Mis-recording EffectPitfall IX. Experimenter Fudging EffectPitfall X. Experimenter Unintentional Expectancy Effect Experimenter Unintentional Expectancy Effect or Investigator Data Analysis Effect? Experimenter Expectancy, Failure to Follow the Procedure, Mis-recording, or Fudging? Studies that Failed to Find an Experimenter Unintentional Expectancy Effect Studies with Equivocal Results "Confirming" Expectancies by Varying the Conduct of the Experiment Expectancy and Experimenters' Scoring of Responses Studies Indicating an Experimenter Unintentional Expectancy Effect Experimenter Expectancy as an Interactive Effect Summary and ConclusionsOverview and Recommendations Postscript: The Future of Experimental ResearchReferencesName IndexSubject Index
