Manipulate Something To Make a Causal Inference Causal inference is a simple idea, right? You do this and that happens. It winds up, though, that in science, … Continue reading >Manipulate Something To Make a Causal Inference
Has Organizational Research Become Meaningless? Last week I decide to update the readings for my USF executive Doctor of Business Administration class on organizational climate … Continue reading >Has Organizational Research Become Meaningless?
Based on Theory Means Little I just finished reading a methods paper and throughout they kept using the phrase “based on theory”. This is a … Continue reading >Based on Theory Means Little
Has Science Been Forgotten in Organizational Research? From an early age I have been studying and doing science. In college I discovered industrial-organizational (I-O) psychology and my … Continue reading >Has Science Been Forgotten in Organizational Research?
Statistical Modeling Makes Weak Results Look Better I am revising my Industrial-Organizational (I-O) Psychology textbook. I’ve reviewed abstracts for a few hundred recent papers, looking for new … Continue reading >Statistical Modeling Makes Weak Results Look Better
Method Diversity Is The Basis of Theory Testing More than a century ago, a Swiss patent clerk presented a theory that revolutionized physics. Einstein’s relativity theory continues to … Continue reading >Method Diversity Is The Basis of Theory Testing
Scientific Skepticism Is a Smart Thing As medical science became politicized during COVID-19, a new catch phrase of “follow the science” emerged in the media. People … Continue reading >Scientific Skepticism Is a Smart Thing
What Is the Difference Between Mediator and Moderator Variables? No two statistical concepts are more often confused than mediator and moderator variables. Both are “third” variables that affect the … Continue reading >What Is the Difference Between Mediator and Moderator Variables?
Statistical Modeling Methods Are the Real Trojan Horse When I was a graduate student in the1970s, articles were focused on problems of organizations, and statistical methods were simple. … Continue reading >Statistical Modeling Methods Are the Real Trojan Horse
What Is the Ecological Fallacy Definition? When we collect data on people, those people are members of groups. Employees, for example, are members of teams and … Continue reading >What Is the Ecological Fallacy Definition?
Populations Are Important In Research Reports Last week I was browsing the posters at the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP) conference in Chicago. A … Continue reading >Populations Are Important In Research Reports
Why the Media Has Lost Faith in Science We see are seeing increasing numbers of media stories about problems with peer-reviewed scientific research. Whether it is a story … Continue reading >Why the Media Has Lost Faith in Science
Theory Salting in the Organizational Sciences I have been around the I-O psychology/management field long enough to see things evolve from its origins in behaviorism where … Continue reading >Theory Salting in the Organizational Sciences
Avoid Magical Thinking with Statistics Both academic research and evidence-based practice rely on information to reach conclusions and make decisions. For example, a practitioner might … Continue reading >Avoid Magical Thinking with Statistics
Bias Undermines the Reliability of Science In my career I have attended hundreds of scientific research talks. What has always raised a red flag for me … Continue reading >Bias Undermines the Reliability of Science
Open Science Is No Panacea Like all human endeavors, science is flawed. There are biases, poor practices and downright fraud that undermine the integrity of … Continue reading >Open Science Is No Panacea
Theory Is Misused in Organizational Science If you read the academic literature in the organizational sciences, you will see the phrase “informed by theory…” It is … Continue reading >Theory Is Misused in Organizational Science
Statistical Control Is Academic Rigor Theater The incorporation of statistical control variables into our analyses has been common practice in many social science fields including the … Continue reading >Statistical Control Is Academic Rigor Theater
