Articles from everywhere
There are great articles out there, offering insight and inspiration.
Meta-Analysis and incremental findings…The importance of being humble:
A meta-analysis was recently published in Journal of Applied Psychology... the conclusion is short and sweet, basically saying that the Honesty Humility dimension of the HEXACO model does not offer any incremental validity for predicting Organizational Citizenship...
When scientists are wrong..
Many studies and findings are questioned as a replications fail. When some are approached about possible weaknesses, like Amy Cuddy (and with her mentor Susan Fiske at her back), they fight tooth and nail. Others do it differently. A finding Dan Ariely has based part...
Replication vs. reproducibility
There is a distinction (not always observed by various authors) between Replication and reproducibility. Replication is re-running studies to confirm results. This means, collect own data, and get the same effect for your study. Reproducibility is the the ability to...
How to be a good reviewer
https://plos.org/resources/for-reviewers/
Are the metrics for academic success changing?
The term "Publish or perish" is well known, and in part comes from seeing that those who publish more, tend to receive more as well. Volume counts. This skews incentives, leading to shortcuts and outright fraud. Will this ever change? In a recent article on one such...
What to do when, for a successful academic career
The requirements to get a job in academia, change depending on the stage of ones career. This article sums up what is commonly required at the different stages. I found it interesting that there is no mention of teaching, though this may be because in the USA, one is...
“Best Practices in Data Collection and Preparation” …and self-citation..
Good article on how to collect data for research: Best Practices in Data Collection and Preparation: Recommendations for Reviewers, Editors, and Authors https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1094428119836485 Aguinis, H., Hill, N. S., & Bailey, J. R....
Visualisation of data
https://mattiheino.com/2019/07/28/shitty-tables/?fbclid=IwAR3n1z8VoNJ5pHPM-RDYFEp2v_TsWE1vB2enlu_uEFfPlje85zRWIAKNZeU More to follow https://serialmentor.com/dataviz/visualizing-uncertainty.html#frequency-framing https://www.data-to-viz.com/
Visualizations in academic writing
I love a good graphic, one that communicates a lot of information. They may not be quick to look at, but communicates a lot in an intuitive way. A recent editorial (2018) in AMJ indicates it is seen as a positive there. I recommend reading the editorial: FROM THE...
Reference list and bibliography: is there a difference?
I was just berated in an article review: "a bibliography is NOT a reference list!". I will admit that up to now, I have used the two terms interchangeably, and have tended to use the term "bibliography", as I like the sound of the word better, than the more pedestrian...
Bibliometric analysis of a department
Bibliometric analysis has range of applications, a practical application is analyzing a research institution or department; such as in terms of topics, collaborations (both internal and external) and impact (in the form of citations) in the scientific community. To...
Summary of the revolution in practices in Social Psychology, and how it felled an academic star
A lot has been written about the crisis in social psychology, where Amy Cuddy has been made the poster girl for everything that went wrong. An artice in the NYT sums up the whole process, telling the story of how some researchers started asking questions as to the...
Academic mobility and impact
Two articles in Nature was nicely summarized in an Economist article recently. The key point is: The more open countries are and internationally mobile and connected researchers in a country are, the more artices with high citation are produced. It is worth noting...
How to write a good title
http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2014/02/05/academics-choose-useless-titles/
Nvivo for litterature review
This post is a work in progress, as I try using Nvivo to get a systematic overview of my field of study; and where I store links and resources I have found useful. A complete post will follow when I have a conclusion (of whether to stop, or go on :)) It might be...
Diversity is not the best way to creativity
https://hbr.org/2017/06/does-diversity-actually-increase-creativity?utm_campaign=hbr&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social
Harking, Sharking, and Tharking Making the Case for Post Hoc Analysis of Scientific Data
HARKing (Hypothesizing After Results Are Known) is generally regarded as a deceitful practice in science. The statistical tests associated with hypothesis testing are based on assumptions of a prioroi hypothesis, and a limited number to be tested. Once these are...
Some may enjoy reading this..
..and spend a couple of minutes studying the graph. A graph showing what people think of when using unspecific terms like: "some", "a few", "many", as well as various types of probabilities. Rather interesting.. as well as a short discussion on what to do with...
The role of narratives in how information spreads
When theorizing about the world and how information is spread, it is easy to assume that better information will prevail, and, when conducting social network analysis, that all information is equal, it is all about the structure and characteristics of the node. This...
Selection bias and the use of success stories
While it is obvious when stated, it is still a sad fact that the popular business press continues to write hero stories and generalize from business successes. This article from HBR is a quick introduction to why this can lead one to draw the wrong conclusions....
How statistics lost their power
Interesting historical perspective, and why statistics as a tool to form policy and public opinion may loose its effect in the time to come. some points: the nation is a misleading entity to use; while some cities flourish and grow, other regions are hit hard; an...
“For more than three decades, macroeconomics has gone backwards,”
Paul Romer on the state of economics, rational expectations and on groupthink in the field. On how theory, assumptions and math has led progress (or regress in his opinion) rather than empirical observation. Fun read....
How to network with purpose mutual effect
As with so many activities, networking is a craft to be learnt. If done well.. It benefit both you and your network.. Here are some advice from a leading researcher in the field. For network to have value, it needs to have relevant and potentially strategically...
Understanding the American demographic
Sitting safely in Norway, reading about the American election in various major global news outlets, it is hard to understand how Trump won the GOP primary, let alone is head to head with Clinton in the race for the Whitehouse. Clearly, there is something I have not...
Famous and influential psychology studies that fail replication
While most authors of the original research argue for reasons why the replication failed, they seem to do so in order to defend themselves, and against suspicion of poor research in the first part. (or that which worse is) When reading such defenses, it is easy to...
When “cultural fit” is just code for “people like us”
Good HBR article on how :"Hiring for cultural fit can thwart diversity". https://hbr.org/2016/04/why-hiring-for-cultural-fit-can-thwart-your-diversity-efforts
How to manage for collective creativity
Harvard professor Linda Hill presents her findings on characteristics of leaders / situations that inspire consistent creative thinking and progress. Three key capabilities are: Creative Abraision, Creative Resolution and Creative Agility. See her HBR...
Controlling for confounding variables
Confounding variables are nothing new, so controlling form them are common. However, as this paper shows, a lot of these controls are flawed, calling into question the validity of the results. SEM is proposed as part of the solution. ...
Place in- and structure of network more important than size
The extent information takes hold and is spread depends on the "Majority illusion"; which means: whether other people in the network believes most other people have the information. (Who wants to be the odd one out?) Worth noting, this is independent of whether it is...
On procrastination and preparing for an event..
Brilliant and hilarious description with fantastic graphics of how to think of the level of preparation for a talk, and on procrastination in the process! http://waitbutwhy.com/2016/03/doing-a-ted-talk-the-full-story.html