Scholtz Salomé Elizabeth, de Klerk Werner, de Beer Leon T
Community Psychosocial Research (COMPRES), School of Psychosocial Health, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa.
WorkWell Research Institute, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa.
Front Res Metr Anal. 2020 Mar 20;5:1. doi: 10.3389/frma.2020.00001. eCollection 2020.
Research methods play an imperative role in research quality as well as educating young researchers, however, the application thereof is unclear which can be detrimental to the field of psychology. Therefore, this systematised review aimed to determine what research methods are being used, how these methods are being used and for what topics in the field. Our review of 999 articles from five journals over a period of 5 years indicated that psychology research is conducted in 10 topics via predominantly quantitative research methods. Of these 10 topics, social psychology was the most popular. The remainder of the conducted methodology is described. It was also found that articles lacked rigour and transparency in the used methodology which has implications for replicability. In conclusion this article, provides an overview of all reported methodologies used in a sample of psychology journals. It highlights the popularity and application of methods and designs throughout the article sample as well as an unexpected lack of rigour with regard to most aspects of methodology. Possible sample bias should be considered when interpreting the results of this study. It is recommended that future research should utilise the results of this study to determine the possible impact on the field of psychology as a science and to further investigation into the use of research methods. Results should prompt the following future research into: a lack or rigour and its implication on replication, the use of certain methods above others, publication bias and choice of sampling method.
研究方法在研究质量以及培养年轻研究人员方面起着至关重要的作用，然而，其应用尚不清楚，这可能会对心理学领域造成损害。因此，本系统综述旨在确定正在使用哪些研究方法、这些方法是如何使用的以及用于该领域的哪些主题。我们对五本期刊在五年内发表的999篇文章进行的综述表明，心理学研究主要通过定量研究方法在10个主题中进行。在这10个主题中，社会心理学最受欢迎。其余所采用的方法也进行了描述。还发现文章在所使用的方法上缺乏严谨性和透明度，这对可重复性有影响。总之，本文概述了心理学期刊样本中所报告的所有方法。它突出了文章样本中方法和设计的受欢迎程度及应用情况，以及在方法学的大多数方面意外缺乏严谨性的情况。在解释本研究结果时应考虑可能的样本偏差。建议未来的研究应利用本研究结果来确定对作为一门科学的心理学领域可能产生的影响，并进一步调查研究方法的使用情况。研究结果应促使未来进行以下研究：缺乏严谨性及其对重复性的影响、某些方法相对于其他方法的使用、发表偏倚以及抽样方法的选择。
