Replication Crisis, p-Hacking, and Open Science. An Inquiry into Questionable Research Practices in Student Projects and Impulses for the Teaching Environment

Abstract

In recent years, there has been an intensive debate within psychology about the conclusions that should be drawn because of the replication crisis. The use of questionable research practices (QRPs) was identified as one reason for problems concerning replicability. While there are extensive studies on the prevalence of QRPs among scientists, little is known about their occurrence among students. This article presents the first large-scale survey among 1,397 psychology students in the German-speaking countries to investigate the occurrence of QRPs in student projects and the current state of academic teaching regarding the replication crisis and open science. The joint examination of teaching and the use of questionable research practices serves to provide information on how the teaching of psychology is related to the empirical approach of students. The results reveal that questionable research practices do occur in student projects, albeit with large differences in the occurrence of specific QRPs. We also found differences in the incidence of QRPs between different project types: QRP usage was most frequent in empirical internships and least frequent in master's theses. Our data suggest that the extent of reported QRPs generally decreases as students progress in their study programs. In addition, most students seem to have already come into contact with the replication crisis in teaching, mostly in methodology classes. Finally, we provide impulses for the further development of the teaching of psychology. The principles of openness, transparency, and collaboration play an important role in these recommendations, which are aimed at teaching and producing robust research from the very beginning.