Psychology's Misuse of Statistics and Persistent Dismissal of its Critics

1. Auflage 2019
ISBN: 978-3-030-12130-3
Verlag: Springer International Publishing

Buch, Englisch, 179 Seiten, Format (B × H): 153 mm x 216 mm, Gewicht: 383 g

Reihe: Palgrave Studies in the Theory and History of Psychology

This book is a strenuous critique of the misinterpretation of statistical knowledge of populations in mainstream psychology, exploring the implications of assuming that those statistics constitute scientific knowledge of individuals. It investigates the essential nature and historical roots of this interpretive practice, and documents the lack of change in mainstream thinking despite previous critiques of the practice. The author contends that prevailing interpretive traditions result in bad science, in that invalid claims are made to knowledge of individuals. He also discusses the socio-ethical problems resulting from this misinterpretation of statistics, where psychological practitioners unjustifiably endorse interventions in the lives of individuals. Lamiell urges psychologists to abandon the aggregate statistical methods which he argues have transformed the field into ‘psycho-demography,’ and to embrace instead alternative research methods that are logically suited to gaining scientific knowledge about the psychological functioning of individuals. This book concludes by highlighting some of the currently available methodological alternatives, as well as discussing some enduring conceptual impediments to the serious consideration of those alternatives.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Lamiell, James T.

Fachgebiete

• Mathematik | Informatik Mathematik Mathematik Allgemein Populäre Darstellungen der Mathematik
• Sozialwissenschaften Psychologie Psychologie / Allgemeines & Theorie Psychologische Forschungsmethoden
• Sozialwissenschaften Psychologie Allgemeine Psychologie Differentielle Psychologie, Persönlichkeitspsychologie Psychologische Diagnostik, Testpsychologie
• Sozialwissenschaften Psychologie Psychologie / Allgemeines & Theorie Geschichte der Psychologie
• Mathematik | Informatik Mathematik Stochastik Mathematische Statistik

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Chapter 1: Introduction: Mainstream Psychology’s Worrisome Incorrigibility.- Chapter 2: Challenging the Canon: The Critique and its Aftermath in Autobiographical Perspective.- Chapter 3: The Entrenchment of Statistical Thinking in Early Twentieth Century.- Differential Psychology.- Chapter 4: The Failure of Critical Thinking in the Statistization of Experimental Psychology.- Chapter 5: Statistical Thinking in Psychology: Some Needed Critical Perspective on What ‘Everyone Knows’.- Chapter 6: ‘Statisticism’ in Psychology as a Socio-Ethical Problem.- Chapter 7: In Quest of Meaningful Change.

Über Autor(innen)

James T. Lamiell is Professor Emeritus of Psychology at Georgetown University, USA after having spent thirty-six years on the faculty at that institution. He holds the 2001 Bunn Award for Faculty Excellence at Georgetown, and is a three-time Fulbright scholar to Germany. He has authored four books and translated a fifth.