3 ms·

This. And so far my experience is that most (but definitely not all) psych student are usually choosing psych over STEM due to their repulsion of math, physics

by IMTDb 8y ago

This. And so far my experience is that most (but definitely not all) psych student are usually choosing psych over STEM due to their repulsion of math, physics and 'anything number'. They see stats as an 'unfortunate exam they need to get through to pass' so they aim for a barley passing grade in order to focus on other areas they are more interested in. When they are pressured into publishing something the stats part is once again seen as "the impossibly complex part they need help with to be able to publish their interesting findings". They have guidelines such as "p must be <= 0.05" so they try to mess with the data until they reach that point. Usually, most of the paper (including the conclusion) is already written so stats are considered to be the last administrative bruden to get trough to be able to publish.

mygo 8y ago
they already have their conclusion before doing the maths?
mattnewton 8y ago
I think this is an unfair stereotype. Psychology is really hard, the system you are studying is many times more complex than many other fields. I am going to have to ask for the source on that last paragraph too, that’s basically slandering the whole field as not doing actual science.
- smallnamespace 8y ago
  > Psychology is really hard, the system you are studying is many times more complex than many other fields. If that's true though, then the mathematical rigor that should be demanded from its students must be higher than in other fields in order to achieve the same level of reliability. I doubt that is the case today.
  - mattnewton 8y ago
    The gp is basically saying psychologists can’t get the math right because most don’t like math and are just playing house to get publications. I am saying many do appreciate good statistics and go to bed worrying about it at night, and the lack of general reproducibility has more to do with the complexity of the field. In most cases you have to find and convince a statistically representative sample to participate, and that’s so expensive and hard enough to often not be done completely, without having to consider that a statistically representative sample of individuals for many psychological phenomena is an impossible task.
nunya213 8y ago
To be fair P hacking is rampant across Academia and certainly not only in Psychology.

by IMTDb 8y ago

mygo 8y ago

they already have their conclusion before doing the maths?

mattnewton 8y ago

I think this is an unfair stereotype. Psychology is really hard, the system you are studying is many times more complex than many other fields. I am going to have to ask for the source on that last paragraph too, that’s basically slandering the whole field as not doing actual science.

smallnamespace 8y ago
> Psychology is really hard, the system you are studying is many times more complex than many other fields. If that's true though, then the mathematical rigor that should be demanded from its students must be higher than in other fields in order to achieve the same level of reliability. I doubt that is the case today.
- mattnewton 8y ago
  The gp is basically saying psychologists can’t get the math right because most don’t like math and are just playing house to get publications. I am saying many do appreciate good statistics and go to bed worrying about it at night, and the lack of general reproducibility has more to do with the complexity of the field. In most cases you have to find and convince a statistically representative sample to participate, and that’s so expensive and hard enough to often not be done completely, without having to consider that a statistically representative sample of individuals for many psychological phenomena is an impossible task.

nunya213 8y ago

To be fair P hacking is rampant across Academia and certainly not only in Psychology.