6. Controversies

About this Lecture

Lecture

In this lecture, we think about some controversies and questions within this field, focusing in particular on: (i) the disparity between reach and impact of different publishing journals, which may be influenced by cost to publish in them; (ii) the difficulties with private funding for research when it comes to the promotion of more research, potentially at the expense of certain research ethics; (iii) the economic uses of psychology, which could be sinister if given the opportunity; (iv) some key questions to consider, including whether taxpayer funded research should be free to access for all, whether peer reviewers should be paid, whether there should be rules on who can fund research, and whether governments should be allowed to utilise psychology on their citizens.

Course

In this course, Dr Ayoub Bouguettaya (University of Birmingham) explores the procedures and economics of the psychology research process. In the first lecture, we think about why understanding the processes of psychological research is important. In the second lecture, we think about the lifecycle of a research project, from developing an idea, to a funded project, to publishing your findings. In the third lecture, we think about funding, including where that funding might come from and exactly what it pays for. Next, we think about why findings are published in the journals they are, and the metrics that can be monitored after publication. In the fifth lecture, we think about some economic applications of psychology research, including utilising defaults to influence people’s selections. In the sixth and final lecture, we think about some controversies and questions within this field, including whether governments should be allowed to use psychology on their own citizens.

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).