The Crisis issue Assessed: An Empirical Analysis
- 1 December 1988
- journal article
- Published by Taylor & Francis in Basic and Applied Social Psychology
- Vol. 9 (4) , 301-309
- https://doi.org/10.1207/s15324834basp0904_5
Abstract
The effect of the crisis issue in social psychology-focusing on the validity of existing social psychological research methodologies-was examined through an analysis of research trends over the past 15 years. Articles selected from four representative social psychology journals in the 1974-1975, 1979-1980, and 1984-1985 periods were evaluated in terms of (a) type of methodology, (b) subject population (c) use of deception and (d) method of data analysis. Results indicate that, despite the predominance of laboratory experimentation in social psychological research, a significant increase in the use of surveys and questionnaires is noted. In addition, although the predominance of undergraduates as research subjects has shown no change over the 15-year period, deception in research has decreased significantly. Contrary to expectation, the increased availability of linear modeling procedures such as path analysis and multidimensional scaling has not resulted in significant changes in the methods of data analysis over the past 15 years. These results are discussed in terms of the role of the crisis literature on social psychological research of the past decade.Keywords
This publication has 11 references indexed in Scilit:
- Suspicion in the psychological laboratory: Kelman's prophecy revisited.American Psychologist, 1987
- Ethical variables?American Psychologist, 1986
- Research using intentional deception: Ethical issues revisited.American Psychologist, 1985
- The ‘crisis’ in social psychology, an empirical approachEuropean Journal of Social Psychology, 1983
- Twenty Years of Deception in Social PsychologyPersonality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 1982
- Social Psychology Research during the 1970sPersonality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 1982
- Social psychology as history.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1973
- Some research trends in social psychology during the 1960s.American Psychologist, 1972
- Effects of deceiving and debriefing psychological subjects on performance in later experiments.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1970
- Human use of human subjects: The problem of deception in social psychological experiments.Psychological Bulletin, 1967