On the Importance of Tail Ratios for Psychological Science

2013 ◽  
Vol 112 (3) ◽  
pp. 872-886 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Voracek ◽  
Elisabeth Mohr ◽  
Michael Hagmann

Even small group-mean differences (whether combined with variance differences or not) or variance differences alone (absent mean differences) can generate marked and sometimes surprising imbalances in the representation of the respective groups compared in the distributional tail regions. Such imbalances in group representation, quantified as tail ratios, have general importance in the context of any threshold, susceptibility, diathesis-stress, selection, or similar models (including the study of sex differences), as widely conceptualized and applied in the psychological, social, medical, and biological sciences. However, commonly used effect-size measures, such as Cohen's d, largely exploit data information around the center of distributions, rather than from the tails, thereby missing potentially important patterns found in the tail regions. This account reviews the background and history of tail ratios, emphasizes their importance for psychological research, proposes a consensus approach for defining and interpreting them, introduces a tail-ratio calculator, and outlines future research agenda.

Author(s):  
Leah R. Warner ◽  
Stephanie A. Shields

Intersectionality theory concerns the interdependence of systems of inequality and implications for psychological research. Social identities cannot be studied independently of one another nor separately from the societal processes that maintain inequality. In this chapter we provide a brief overview of the history of intersectionality theory and then address how intersectionality theory challenges the way psychological theories typically conceive of the person, as well as the methods of data gathering and analysis customarily used by many psychologists. We specifically address two concerns often expressed by feminist researchers. First, how to reconcile the use of an intersectionality framework with currently-valued psychological science practices. Second, how intersectionality transforms psychology’s concern with individual experience by shifting the focus to the individual’s position within sociostructural frameworks and their social and political underpinnings. In a concluding section we identify two future directions for intersectionality theory: how psychological research on intersectionality can facilitate social activism, and current developments in intersectionality theory.


Author(s):  
Kristin A. Hancock ◽  
Douglas C. Haldeman

Psychology’s understanding of lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) people has evolved, become more refined, and impacted the lives of LGB people in profound ways. This chapter traces the history of LGB psychology from the nineteenth century to the present and focuses on major events and the intersections of theory, psychological science, politics, and activism in the history of this field. It explores various facets of cultural and psychological history that include the pathologizing of homosexuality, the rise of psychological science and the political movements in the mid-twentieth century, and the major shifts in policy that ensued. The toll of the AIDS epidemic on the field is discussed as is the impact of psychological research on national and international policy and legislation.


2008 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 363-396 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Biebricher

AbstractThe essay aims at an assessment of whether and to what extent the history of governmentality can be considered to be a genealogy. To this effect a generic account of core tenets of Foucauldian genealogy is developed. The three core tenets highlighted are (1) a radically contingent view of history that is (2) expressed in a distinct style and (3) highlights the impact of power on this history. After a brief discussion of the concept of governmentality and a descriptive summary of its history, this generic account is used as a measuring device to be applied to the history of governmentality. While both, the concept of governmentality and also its history retain certain links to genealogical precepts, my overall conclusion is that particularly the history of governmentality (and not necessarily Foucault's more programmatic statements about it) departs from these precepts in significant ways. Not only is there a notable difference in style that cannot be accounted for entirely by the fact that this history is produced in the medium of lectures. Aside from a rather abstract consideration of the importance of societal struggles, revolts and other forms of resistance, there is also little reference to the role of these phenomena in the concrete dynamics of governmental shifts that are depicted in the historical narrative. Finally, in contrast to the historical contingency espoused by genealogy and the programmatic statements about governmentality, the actual history of the latter can be plausibly, albeit unsympathetically, read in a rather teleological fashion according to which the transformations of governmentality amount to the unfolding of an initially implicit notion of governing that is subsequently realised in ever more consistent ways. In the final section of the essay I turn towards the field of governmentality studies, arguing that some of the more problematic tendencies in this research tradition can be traced back to Foucault's own account. In particular, the monolithic conceptualisation of governmentality and the implicit presentism of an excessive focus on Neoliberalism found in many of the studies in governmentality can be linked back to problems in Foucault's own history of governmenality. The paper concludes with suggestions for a future research agenda for the governmentality studies that point beyond Foucault's own account and its respective limitations.


2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 466-472 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Wai ◽  
Diane F. Halpern

The open science or credibility revolution has divided psychologists on whether and how the “policy” change of preregistration and similar requirements will affect the quality and creativity of future research. We provide a brief history of how norms have rapidly changed and how news and social media are beginning to “disrupt” academic science. We note a variety of benefits, including more confidence in research findings, but there are possible costs as well, including a reduction in the number of studies conducted because of an increased workload required by new policies. We begin to craft a study to evaluate the short- and long-term impacts of these changing norms on creativity in psychological science, run into some possible roadblocks, and hope others will build on this idea. This policy change can be evaluated in the short term but will ultimately need to be evaluated decades from now. Long-term evaluations are rare, yet this is the ultimate measure of creative scientific advance. Our conclusion supports the goals and procedures for creating a more open science.


2003 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
W. B. Schaufeli

After a brief introduction on the history of burnout, this article reviews the past performance of burnout research by answering ten key-questions: (1) How can burnout be assessed?; (2) Is burnout limited to the human services?; (3) Is burnout a mental disorder; (4) What is the prevalence of burnout?; (5) Is burnout a global phenomenon?; (6) Is burnout relevant for organisations; (7) What are the causes of burnout?; (8) What are the consequences of burnout?; (9) How can burnout be explained?; (10) Are burnout interventions effective? In the concluding section a future research agenda is drafted on the bases of the answers given to the previous questions. This agenda includes such issues as the measurement and conceptualisation of burnout, mild and severe forms of burnout, epidemiological and cross-cultural perspectives, organisational outcomes, longitudinal investigations, theoretical explanations, and interventions. Opsomming Na ’n kort inleiding oor die geskiedenis van uitbranding gee hierdie artikel ’n oorsig van vorige prestasie van navorsing ten opsigte van uitbranding deur tien sleutelvrae te beantwoord: (1) Hoe kan uitbranding bepaal word?; (2) Is uitbranding beperk tot die mens-dienste?; (3) Is uitbranding ’n geestesafwyking?; (4) Wat is die voorkoms van uitbranding?; (5) Is uitbranding ’n wêreldwye verskynsel?; (6) Is uitbranding relevant vir organisasies?; (7) Wat is die oorsake van uitbranding?; (8) Wat is die gevolge van uitbranding?; (9) Hoe kan uitbranding verklaar word?; (10) Is uitbrandingsingrepe effektief? In die gevolgtrekking word ’n toekomstige navorsingsagenda op grond van die antwoorde op die voorafgaande vrae opgestel. Hierdie agenda sluit aangeleenthede soos die meting en konseptualisering van uitbranding, matige en ernstige vorme van uitbranding, epidemiologiese en kruiskulturele perspektiewe, organisasie- uitkomste, longitudinale ondersoeke, teoretiese verklarings en intervensies in.


Author(s):  
Frauke Behrendt

This article focusses on the musical history of the telephone, an aspect of telephonic history that is often overlooked and has not yet received systematic academic attention. The article is structured around two musical themes of telephonic history: (1) public performances of telephones as musical instruments and (2) the telephone network as musical instrument. Two historic periods are considered for both themes, (a) the late 1800s/early 1900s and (b) the late 2000s. The article’s approach draws loosely on media historic and media archaeologic perspectives to analyse existing material about telephone history (with a musical focus) alongside empirical field work on the musical use of mobile phones in the late 2000s. The results contribute to debates regarding the ‘newness’ of media, and to sound studies approaches to media histories. The article shows how the theme of the musical telephone has been re-occurring but often overlooked throughout its history, and also sketches out a future research agenda. The article contributes a new understanding of the musical uses of the telephone across history, relevant for both understanding contemporary uses of telephone technologies such as smartphones and the Internet of Things, and for a richer understanding of historic telephone uses.


2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 91
Author(s):  
GdeDwitya Arief Mentere

Abstract This essay looks at two cases of cyber citizen organizations namely Tabanan Lovers and Buleleng jengah. The two cyber citizen organizations emerged from some initiatives to organize members of Facebook community who come from the same hometown, namely Tabanan and Buleleng regency in Bali. In their later development, the two Facebook groups evolve into a space as well as a medium for the cyber citizens to voice their critical political aspiration. Early observation shows that the two groups share similar characteristic of becoming “imagined communities” mediated by not necessarily print media, but instead social media like Facebook. A question that this essay would like to suggest as a future research agenda is what necessitates the formation of these “subnational imagined communities” which takes place at the regency level and not at provincial level? Through tracing the history of their conception and through online participatory observation, this essay aims at providing a preliminary discussion to help illuminate the formation of these two subnational “imagined communities”. More specifically, the discussion points to a link connecting local politics of pilkada and the formation of Tabanan Lovers and Buleleng jengah.


2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 91-98
Author(s):  
Adam W. Fingerhut ◽  
David M. Frost

Psychological science informed recent policy changes granting increased rights for same-sex couples. Understanding that the link between science and policy goes both ways, how should policy inform the next generation of research concerning same-sex couples and sexual minority individuals? This article presents ways that psychological research influenced marriage policy and then puts forth suggestions for future research for the attention of scholars, funders, and policymakers. These include examinations of minority stress in the age of marriage equality; new stressors for same-sex couples including legal divorce; relationship expectations and experiences for emerging adults; and the potential impact of marriage equality for mixed-sex couples including a further challenge to strict gender roles in marriage. The article ends by acknowledging the need for continued application of research to emerging policy questions affecting same-sex couples and sexual minority individuals.


Author(s):  
Mustafa Ozkaynak ◽  
Ann Bisantz ◽  
Laura Militello ◽  
Kristen Miller ◽  
Michael Rayo ◽  
...  

Clinical decision support (CDS) has become an important component of all health settings. Despite a long history of research on their design and implementation, their use is still suboptimal. Unique characteristics of specific settings can require highlighting different features and design recommendations for CDS. This panel will focus on various pitfalls in designing and implementing CDS in various clinical settings and strategies to overcome these pitfalls. Each panelist will introduce their work by discussing the design and implementation challenges that prevent achieving the targeted patient and organizational outcomes. Panelists will also discuss potential approaches with their strengths and limitations to address these challenges. The panelists will then interact with audience members to solicit users’ (e.g. clinicians, patients) unfulfilled needs and limitations of existing approaches to create a broad future research agenda at the intersection of human factors approaches and theories, and CDS systems.


2020 ◽  
pp. 10-22
Author(s):  
V.A. Mazilov ◽  
◽  
Iu.N. Slepko ◽  

The article represents the experience of scientometric analysis based on the materials of a Russian journal. The «Siberian Journal of Psychology» was chosen as the object of analysis. The magazine enjoys authority in the psychological community, it is included in the list of State Commission for Academic Degrees and Titles, is referenced in the databases Web of Science and Scopus. The thesaurus method, which is quite widespread in scientometric research in psychology, was used in the work. The whole body of articles published in the journal (1995-2019), including 1237 articles, is analyzed. The article presents the results of statistical analysis: distribution of articles posted in different sections of journals; articles on personalities, psychology as a science (directions, sections, approaches, etc.), various diseases (mental, physical, psychophysiological, etc.), the study of various social groups (normative, professional), the study of age groups (preschool, primary school, adolescent and other age), various concepts and problems. The analysis of publication dynamics in seven most popular sections reflects a living history of changes in the interest and editions of the journal, and researchers themselves to study the problems of clinical psychology, general psychology and personality psychology, social psychology, educational psychology, developmental psycholo-gy, etc. Despite the great variability of the problem field publications, we highlighted the leading sections in the journal, the most significant areas for the journal, approaches and sections of psychological science; social and age groups to which article authors are most interested; concepts, problems, phenomena of psychology, which are the subject of the largest number of articles. The authors of the article believe that over the 25-year history of the «Siberian Journal of Psychology» has acquired not only its own unique face among many other psychological publications, but also has become strongly associated, on the one hand, with a discussion of a very specific field of urgent problems for psychological science. On the other hand, the presence of the leading problems and issues discussed on the pages of the journal is unique and consistent with the high degree of variability of studies presented in the journal. All this allowed the editorial staff of the journal to enter the «Siberian Journal of Psychology» firmly into the recent history of Russian and world psychological science in a relatively short period of its history.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document