6. Addressing Issues of Replicability

About this Lecture

Lecture

In this lecture, we think about a vital aspect of replicability issues – how we address them in research, focusing in particular on: (i) the example from lecture one of the study investigating attractive qualities, used to recap the different aspects of study replication that might cause problems for researchers and results; (ii) the first method by which the psychological field has begun to tackle these issues being pre-registration, whereby researchers set their expectations prior to undertaking the experiment and publish their results irrespective of whether they find a relationship between the variables or not; (iii) the next step being to mandate larger and more diverse samples to allow for sub-group analysis, and to have a unified theory of human behaviour which can be influenced by new sets of results; (iv) whether psychology can be considered a science, exploring the side which suggests that it is not because of these issues, as well as the side which proposes that the young age of psychology compared to other sciences can forgive its current shortcomings.

Course

In this course, Dr Ayoub Bouguettaya (University of Birmingham) explores a key shortcoming in the field of psychological science – replication. In the first lecture, we explore the concept of replication and define science in terms of three key criteria: reliable and valid theory which can predict outcomes, theories that can be disproven by quantifiable experimentation, and theories that are altered or withdrawn in the light of new findings. In the second lecture, we explore reliability and outline three core issues facing psychological science: quantifiable measures, theories that cannot be disproven, and unrefined theories. In the third and fourth lectures, we explore the definition of validity, its variety of forms, and the challenges associated with formulating valid research. Next, we think about the interrelatedness of validity and reliability, as well as returning to this idea of replication and the many famous studies which have failed either conceptual or exact replication. In the sixth and final lecture, we think about the ways in which the field of psychology is tackling these problems and conclude on two different perspectives on whether psychology can be considered a true science.

Lecturer

Dr Ayoub Bouguettaya is a lecturer in the School of Psychology at the University of Birmingham. Dr Bouguettaya’s research interests are in social psychology and how knowledge from that field can be applied to others, particularly health, including how we can apply social identity theory to societal problems, as well as investigating the different perspectives one might take on those issues. Some of Dr Bouguettaya’s recent publications include 'The relationship between gambling advertising and gambling attitudes, intentions and behaviours: a critical and meta-analytic review' (2020) and 'The Effect of a Food Addiction Explanation Model for Weight Control and Obesity on Weight Stigma' (2020).