In 2012, Rink Hoekstra received two emails on the same day. One was from a journal editor, telling him that a manuscript was being rejected based on the recommendations of two reviewers. The other was from one of those reviewers, complimenting the paper and congratulating him on a job well done. The reviewer, Fiona Fidler, discovered that her review had been altered, and Rink and Fiona teamed out to figure out why. We spoke with Rink in 2018 about what happened, but we held on to the interview in anticipation of the episode being covered by the press. There's now an article out in Science, by journalist Cathleen O'Grady. In our conversation we talk about what happened, and we broaden out to a discussion of publication ethics. Why would an editor want to change a review without asking the reviewer? How does that damage a system that already has so little accountability? And what can authors or reviewers do when they suspect something is up?

Link:

• Delete offensive language? Change recommendations? Some editors say it’s OK to alter peer reviews, by Cathleen O'Grady

The Black Goat is hosted by Sanjay Srivastava, Alexa Tullett, and Simine Vazire. Find us on the web at www.theblackgoatpodcast.com, on Twitter at @blackgoatpod, on Facebook at facebook.com/blackgoatpod/, and on instagram at @blackgoatpod. You can email us at letters@theblackgoatpodcast.com. You can subscribe to us on iTunes or Stitcher.

Our theme music is Peak Beak by Doctor Turtle, available on freemusicarchive.org under a Creative Commons noncommercial attribution license. Our logo was created by Jude Weaver.

This is episode 86. Our interview was recorded on October 26, 2018; the introduction was recorded on October 28, 2020.

Academics are under enormous stress right now, raising the possibility of a rising rate of burnout. Longtime structural trends in higher education have increased pressures for demonstrable productivity. On top of that are a global pandemic, resistance and backlash to calls for racial justice, and unstable politics in the U.S., the U.K., and elsewhere. In this episode we discuss burnout in academia. We focus on an emerging perspective from the healthcare field that describes burnout as resulting from moral injury. How is this idea relevant to people working in academia? In what ways can we be hurt by being trapped between the ideals and values that brought us into the field and the demands of our working environments? What can we do about it? Plus: A letter about reviewing papers from the global south that do not fit into the usual discourse.

Links:

• Andrew Wilson's Twitter thread about burnout
• Moral Injury and Burnout in Medicine: A Year of Lessons Learned by Wendy Dean and Simon Talbot, Stat
• Burnout Is About Your Workplace, Not Your People by Jennifer Moss, Harvard Business Review
• Job Burnout by Christina Maslach, Wilmar Schaufeli, and Michael Leiter, Annual Review of Psychology

The Black Goat is hosted by Sanjay Srivastava, Alexa Tullett, and Simine Vazire. Find us on the web at www.theblackgoatpodcast.com, on Twitter at @blackgoatpod, on Facebook at facebook.com/blackgoatpod/, and on instagram at @blackgoatpod. You can email us at letters@theblackgoatpodcast.com. You can subscribe to us on iTunes or Stitcher.

Our theme music is Peak Beak by Doctor Turtle, available on freemusicarchive.org under a Creative Commons noncommercial attribution license. Our logo was created by Jude Weaver.

This is episode 85. It was recorded on September 16/17 (US/AUS), 2020.

Many important questions about cause and effect are impractical to answer with a randomized experiment. What should we do instead? In this episode we talk about doing causal inference with observational data. Has psychology's historical obsession with internal validity led it, ironically, to think about causal inference in an unsophisticated way? Can formal analytic tools like directed acyclic graphs (DAGs) tell us how to do better studies? Or is their main lesson don't bother trying? How do norms and incentives in publishing help or hurt in doing better causal inference? Plus: We answer a letter about applying to psychology grad school when your background is in data science.

Links:

• Thinking Clearly About Correlations and Causation: Graphical Causal Models for Observational Data, by Julia M. Rohrer
• That one weird third variable problem nobody ever mentions: Conditioning on a collider, by Julia Rohrer
• The selection-distortion effect: How selection changes correlations in surprising ways, by Sanjay Srivastava

The Black Goat is hosted by Sanjay Srivastava, Alexa Tullett, and Simine Vazire. Find us on the web at www.theblackgoatpodcast.com, on Twitter at @blackgoatpod, on Facebook at facebook.com/blackgoatpod/, and on instagram at @blackgoatpod. You can email us at letters@theblackgoatpodcast.com. You can subscribe to us on iTunes or Stitcher.

Our theme music is Peak Beak by Doctor Turtle, available on freemusicarchive.org under a Creative Commons noncommercial attribution license. Our logo was created by Jude Weaver.

This is episode 76. It was recorded on March 16, 2020.

The path from theory to study consists of a thousand decisions, big and small. How and how much do these decisions matter? We discuss a recent crowdsourced meta-study that tried to find out. Fifteen teams of researchers were given 5 different hypotheses and told to design a study to test them, then they ran all the studies and got widely varying results. What are the implications of this study for how we should think about the role of theory in study design? What does it say about the different functions of direct and conceptual replications? Is this evidence of hidden moderators? How predictable were the differences in results, and were they predictable because of differences in the study designers' expertise, biases, or something else? Plus: We answer a letter about getting scooped on a systematic review.

Links:

• Crowdsourcing hypothesis tests: Making transparent how design choices shape research results by Landy et al. in Psychological Bulletin
• 200 researchers, 5 hypotheses, no consistent answers. Coverage at Wired by Christie Aschwanden

The Black Goat is hosted by Sanjay Srivastava, Alexa Tullett, and Simine Vazire. Find us on the web at www.theblackgoatpodcast.com, on Twitter at @blackgoatpod, on Facebook at facebook.com/blackgoatpod/, and on instagram at @blackgoatpod. You can email us at letters@theblackgoatpodcast.com. You can subscribe to us on iTunes or Stitcher.

Our theme music is Peak Beak by Doctor Turtle, available on freemusicarchive.org under a Creative Commons noncommercial attribution license. Our logo was created by Jude Weaver.

This is episode 75. It was recorded on January 30, 2020.

How important is expertise in conducting replications? Many Labs 4 was a large, multi-lab effort that brought together 21 labs, running 2,220 subjects, to study that question. The goal was to compare replications with and without the involvement of the original authors to see if that made a difference. But things got complicated when the effect they chose to study - the mortality salience effect that is a cornerstone of terror management theory - could not be replicated by anyone. In this episode, we talk about the implications of Many Labs 4. What does and doesn't this study say about the importance of expertise and "secret sauce" in conducting replications? Should we necessarily expect that the effect of expertise is to make effects larger or more likely to replicate? What does this replication mean for terror management theory, which has been the focus of hundreds of studies and a 2010 meta-analysis that concluded that mortality salience effects are real and substantial? What place does terror management theory hold in the history of social psychology, and how is that similar or different from ego depletion, another theory that was supported by a meta-analysis but not by multi-lab replications? Plus: we answer a letter about weaponizing tenure if you get it.

Links:

• Many Labs 4: Failure to Replicate Mortality Salience Effect With and Without Original Author Involvement
• A blog post about ML4 by three of its authors
• Two Decades of Terror Management Theory: A Meta-Analysis of Mortality Salience Research, published in 2010

The Black Goat is hosted by Sanjay Srivastava, Alexa Tullett, and Simine Vazire. Find us on the web at www.theblackgoatpodcast.com, on Twitter at @blackgoatpod, on Facebook at facebook.com/blackgoatpod/, and on instagram at @blackgoatpod. You can email us at letters@theblackgoatpodcast.com. You can subscribe to us on iTunes or Stitcher.

Our theme music is Peak Beak by Doctor Turtle, available on freemusicarchive.org under a Creative Commons noncommercial attribution license. Our logo was created by Jude Weaver.

This is episode 74. It was recorded on January 22, 2020.

The Graduate Record Exam - the GRE - is widely used in graduate school admissions. In recent years however, a number of graduate programs, including a few in psychology, have stopped requiring it in a movement that has been dubbed "GRExit." In this episode we discuss the arguments around using the GRE in graduate admissions. What is the evidence for and against its validity? For and against the presence of bias against various groups? How much do we know about validity and bias in the other materials routinely considered in admission, like grades, undergraduate institution, research experience, and letters of recommendation? Are arguments over the GRE just a proxy for larger and more difficult arguments about the purpose and social value of graduate education? And for programs that are dropping the GRE, what are they doing instead, and how will we know what the effects of that are? Plus: we answer a letter about giving authorship to undergrads who made minimal contributions to a project in order to help them get into grad school. 

Links:

• CRediT - Contributor Roles Taxonomy
• A comprehensive meta-analysis of the predictive validity of the graduate record examinations: Implications for graduate student selection and performance, by Kuncel, Hezlett, and Ones (2001)
• Standardized tests predict graduate students' success, by Kuncel and Hezlett (2007)
• Beyond the GRE: Rethinking Admissions Procedures and GRE Scores Are Poor Predictors

The Black Goat is hosted by Sanjay Srivastava, Alexa Tullett, and Simine Vazire. Find us on the web at www.theblackgoatpodcast.com, on Twitter at @blackgoatpod, on Facebook at facebook.com/blackgoatpod/, and on instagram at @blackgoatpod. You can email us at letters@theblackgoatpodcast.com. You can subscribe to us on iTunes or Stitcher.

Our theme music is Peak Beak by Doctor Turtle, available on freemusicarchive.org under a Creative Commons noncommercial attribution license. Our logo was created by Jude Weaver.

This is episode 73. It was recorded on January 6, 2020.

In our annual end-of-year episode, we talk about noteworthy reflections and events from the year that just passed. Alexa reflects on breakups, and wonders why we don't take them more seriously as a significant disruption to other people's lives. Sanjay talks about hitting a low point and deciding to finally do something about it. And Simine talks about starting a new relationship and finding a new job that will take her halfway around the world. Plus: we answer a letter about whether scientists should mix advocacy and science.

The Black Goat is hosted by Sanjay Srivastava, Alexa Tullett, and Simine Vazire. Find us on the web at www.theblackgoatpodcast.com, on Twitter at @blackgoatpod, on Facebook at facebook.com/blackgoatpod/, and on instagram at @blackgoatpod. You can email us at letters@theblackgoatpodcast.com. You can subscribe to us on iTunes or Stitcher.

Our theme music is Peak Beak by Doctor Turtle, available on freemusicarchive.org under a Creative Commons noncommercial attribution license. Our logo was created by Jude Weaver.

This is episode 72. It was recorded on December 10, 2019.

Peer review is a major part of how science works today. In this episode we talk about how we approach doing peer reviews. How do you distinguish between differences in approach or preference - "I would have done it a different way" - versus things that you should treat as objections? How much weight do you put on different considerations - the importance of the research question, the novelty, the theory, the methods, the results, and other factors? What's your actual process - do you read front-to-back, or jump around? How much do you edit and wordsmith your reviews? When there are appendices, supplements, open code and materials, and preregistrations, which things do you read and how do you factor them in? How do you think about your potential biases and how to mitigate them? Plus: We answer a letter about deciding whether to pursue a postdoc versus other options.

The Black Goat is hosted by Sanjay Srivastava, Alexa Tullett, and Simine Vazire. Find us on the web at www.theblackgoatpodcast.com, on Twitter at @blackgoatpod, on Facebook at facebook.com/blackgoatpod/, and on instagram at @blackgoatpod. You can email us at letters@theblackgoatpodcast.com. You can subscribe to us on iTunes or Stitcher.

Our theme music is Peak Beak by Doctor Turtle, available on freemusicarchive.org under a Creative Commons noncommercial attribution license. Our logo was created by Jude Weaver.

This is episode 71. It was recorded on December 6, 2019.

To get your PhD you have to do a dissertation. For some this is an important product that demonstrates your ability to produce original research. To others, it's a vestigial ritual and a waste of time on the way to becoming a productive scholar. In this episode we discuss dissertations - what they've been in the past, what they are today, and where they might go in the future. Is a dissertation necessary for the kinds of work that someone might do with a PhD? As graduate training has evolved, how well has the dissertation kept up? Are oral defenses a valuable part of the process or an elaborate hazing ritual? Are they better if they're public, private, or don't happen at all? And most importantly, should all defenses involve swords? Plus: We discuss a letter about escaping from a toxic and abusive advisor.

The Black Goat is hosted by Sanjay Srivastava, Alexa Tullett, and Simine Vazire. Find us on the web at www.theblackgoatpodcast.com, on Twitter at @blackgoatpod, on Facebook at facebook.com/blackgoatpod/, and on instagram at @blackgoatpod. You can email us at letters@theblackgoatpodcast.com. You can subscribe to us on iTunes or Stitcher.

Our theme music is Peak Beak by Doctor Turtle, available on freemusicarchive.org under a Creative Commons noncommercial attribution license. Our logo was created by Jude Weaver.

This is episode 70. It was recorded on November 20, 2019.

Speaking up about injustice and bad behavior in a professional setting - as a witness, or as the target of it - is hard. It's uncomfortable, it's difficult, and it can generate backlash and other risks for yourself and your career. In this episode, we talk about that moment when people finally decide to say something or do something. Simine shares the story of how she decided to go on the record about being groped at a conference - what brought her to that decision, and what happened as a result. And we talk about other cases of people speaking up about harassment, discrimination, professional misconduct, and more, including Jennifer Freyd's pay discrimination lawsuit against the University of Oregon. We talk about the burden of knowing something is wrong, how this dilemma often falls disproportionately on people who are vulnerable in other ways, and what factors can help somebody speak out. Plus: we respond to a letter about department leaders who are obsessed with bean-counting of grant dollars and impact factors.

Links:

• N-best evaluation for academic hiring and promotion, by Michael Frank
• Making research evaluation more transparent: Aligning research philosophy, institutional values, and reporting, by Michael Dougherty, L. Robert Slevc, and James Grand, published at Perspectives in Psychological Science
• Dan Engber's Slate article where Simine went on the record
• What Reporting Sexual Harassment Taught Me, by Simine Vazire, published at Slate
• a little bit louder now, by Simine Vazire
• Taylor Swift’s Sexual Assault Testimony Was Sharp, Gutsy, and Satisfying
• Coverage of Jennifer Freyd's lawsuit: Psychology professor appeals dismissal in equal pay lawsuit with UO, Daily Emerald; and 47 Women's And Civil Rights Groups Support Equal Pay Lawsuit Against UO, OPB
• Why We Find and Expose Bad Science, by James Heathers

The Black Goat is hosted by Sanjay Srivastava, Alexa Tullett, and Simine Vazire. Find us on the web at www.theblackgoatpodcast.com, on Twitter at @blackgoatpod, on Facebook at facebook.com/blackgoatpod/, and on instagram at @blackgoatpod. You can email us at letters@theblackgoatpodcast.com. You can subscribe to us on iTunes or Stitcher.

Our theme music is Peak Beak by Doctor Turtle, available on freemusicarchive.org under a Creative Commons noncommercial attribution license. Our logo was created by Jude Weaver.

This is episode 69. It was recorded on October 30, 2019.

Academics give a lot of talks. Job talks, conference talks, colloquium talks, brownbag talks, pub talks. In this episode we talk about talks. How do you approach different audiences and formats? How do you manage a format or audience where interrupting with questions is the norm? How, and how much, do you prepare for different kinds of talks? How do you handle nerves when the stakes feel high? We share some of our own observations and experiences about giving academic presentations. Plus: We answer a letter about how "alt-acs" are perceived within academia.

The Black Goat is hosted by Sanjay Srivastava, Alexa Tullett, and Simine Vazire. Find us on the web at www.theblackgoatpodcast.com, on Twitter at @blackgoatpod, on Facebook at facebook.com/blackgoatpod/, and on instagram at @blackgoatpod. You can email us at letters@theblackgoatpodcast.com. You can subscribe to us on iTunes or Stitcher.

Our theme music is Peak Beak by Doctor Turtle, available on freemusicarchive.org under a Creative Commons noncommercial attribution license. Our logo was created by Jude Weaver.

This is episode 68. It was recorded on October 16, 2019.

Scientists have to follow a lot of rules. We have IRB rules, journal submission rules, university rules - lots of rules. But some of the most important rules in science aren't rules at all - they are norms. Guiding principles that shape the work we do. In this episode, we discuss a classic paper by the sociologist Robert Merton on 4 norms that govern scientific work. Are these norms an expression of scientific values, or just a means to an end? How well do scientists follow them, individually or collectively? Is science doing as well today as Merton thought it was back in 1942 - and is following these norms really the way to make science work right? Plus: We answer a letter about question to ask a prospective PhD advisor.

Links:

• Sanjay's muse, Mr. Autumn Man
• The normative structure of science by Robert Merton
• Normative dissonance in science: Results from a national survey of U.S. scientists by Melissa S. Anderson, Brian C. Martinson, and Raymond De Vries

The Black Goat is hosted by Sanjay Srivastava, Alexa Tullett, and Simine Vazire. Find us on the web at www.theblackgoatpodcast.com, on Twitter at @blackgoatpod, on Facebook at facebook.com/blackgoatpod/, and on instagram at @blackgoatpod. You can email us at letters@theblackgoatpodcast.com. You can subscribe to us on iTunes or Stitcher.

Our theme music is Peak Beak by Doctor Turtle, available on freemusicarchive.org under a Creative Commons noncommercial attribution license. Our logo was created by Jude Weaver.

This is episode 67. It was recorded on October 8, 2019.

Academics love awards. We give out career awards, mid-career awards, early-career awards. We give out awards for the best paper, the best theory, the best teaching, the best service. But what function do all those awards serve? And are we the better for having them? In this episode we talk about how awards fit into the academic ecosystem. How do recipients benefit from them? How do they help the organizations and research communities that give them out? What kinds of biases are baked into the system, and how can we counteract them? Should we consider radically changing how academic awards work, or even doing away with them? Plus: We answer a letter about why academia and policy research have such different norms around checking their numbers.

The Black Goat is hosted by Sanjay Srivastava, Alexa Tullett, and Simine Vazire. Find us on the web at www.theblackgoatpodcast.com, on Twitter at @blackgoatpod, on Facebook at facebook.com/blackgoatpod/, and on instagram at @blackgoatpod. You can email us at letters@theblackgoatpodcast.com. You can subscribe to us on iTunes or Stitcher.

Our theme music is Peak Beak by Doctor Turtle, available on freemusicarchive.org under a Creative Commons noncommercial attribution license. Our logo was created by Jude Weaver.

This is episode 84. It was recorded on September 2/3 (US/AUS), 2020.

In a previous episode we talked about making small talk in academic life and in general. In this episode we continue the theme, taking a break from our usual Very Serious Topics to answer the ultimate small-talk question: What do you do for fun? We talk about what a week in our lives is like outside of work. How do we spend time when we're not "on the clock"? What is the right amount of socializing? (spoiler: not everybody has the same answer) How do our hobbies and avocations reflect back on our work - or give us a break from it? Plus: A letter about getting a mystifying cold shoulder from a senior colleague.

The Black Goat is hosted by Sanjay Srivastava, Alexa Tullett, and Simine Vazire. Find us on the web at www.theblackgoatpodcast.com, on Twitter at @blackgoatpod, on Facebook at facebook.com/blackgoatpod/, and on instagram at @blackgoatpod. You can email us at letters@theblackgoatpodcast.com. You can subscribe to us on iTunes or Stitcher.

Our theme music is Peak Beak by Doctor Turtle, available on freemusicarchive.org under a Creative Commons noncommercial attribution license. Our logo was created by Jude Weaver.

This is episode 66. It was recorded on September 27, 2019.

The three pillars of academic work are research, teaching, and service - in that order. But service is incredibly important for universities and professions to function well and for academics to contribute to their communities. In this episode we talk about how we think about service. How do decide what service to do, and how much? How do you manage service in relation to your other work? What are different kinds of service, and what do you get out of them? What should we do about colleagues who get less service because they won't do it or will do it badly? Plus: A letter about getting credit for open peer reviews.

The Black Goat is hosted by Sanjay Srivastava, Alexa Tullett, and Simine Vazire. Find us on the web at www.theblackgoatpodcast.com, on Twitter at @blackgoatpod, on Facebook at facebook.com/blackgoatpod/, and on instagram at @blackgoatpod. You can email us at letters@theblackgoatpodcast.com. You can subscribe to us on iTunes or Stitcher.

Our theme music is Peak Beak by Doctor Turtle, available on freemusicarchive.org under a Creative Commons noncommercial attribution license. Our logo was created by Jude Weaver.

This is episode 65. It was recorded on September 16, 2019.

In the past decade, scientists in psychology and elsewhere have changed a lot in how we evaluate what makes research replicable, robust, and credible. New theories and findings in metascience and methodology - and repopularization of old ones - have given us new ways to think critically about research. But what do we do when these concepts and arguments are used poorly or bad faith - applied wrongly or selectively, or misused to sow broad doubt in science? In this episode we talk about what happens when people try to claim the mantle of open science to advance some other agenda. How can we distinguish good use of open-science arguments from bad? How can scientists who care about open science effectively call out these arguments? Plus: A letter about negotiating for a partner who has a non-academic job.

Links:

• Alexa on Two Psychologists Four Beers
• Everything Hertz gives Simine tips on moving to Australia
• The Hidden Half by Michael Blastland

The Black Goat is hosted by Sanjay Srivastava, Alexa Tullett, and Simine Vazire. Find us on the web at www.theblackgoatpodcast.com, on Twitter at @blackgoatpod, on Facebook at facebook.com/blackgoatpod/, and on instagram at @blackgoatpod. You can email us at letters@theblackgoatpodcast.com. You can subscribe to us on iTunes or Stitcher.

Our theme music is Peak Beak by Doctor Turtle, available on freemusicarchive.org under a Creative Commons noncommercial attribution license. Our logo was created by Jude Weaver.

This is episode 64. It was recorded on August 27, 2019.

Part of academic life means talking to new people about yourself and your work - whether it's on a job interview, at a conference, or casual conversations outside of academic settings. In this episode we talk about talking to strangers. How do you answer default academic small-talk questions like "tell me about your work?" How do you shake out of them to move a conversation somewhere more interesting? Should you prepare or practice an elevator pitch? And when, if ever, is it safe to take off your headphones on an airplane? Plus: We try to answer a letter about how the academic job market in the U.S. views doctoral degrees from Australia.

The Black Goat is hosted by Sanjay Srivastava, Alexa Tullett, and Simine Vazire. Find us on the web at www.theblackgoatpodcast.com, on Twitter at @blackgoatpod, on Facebook at facebook.com/blackgoatpod/, and on instagram at @blackgoatpod. You can email us at letters@theblackgoatpodcast.com. You can subscribe to us on iTunes or Stitcher.

Our theme music is Peak Beak by Doctor Turtle, available on freemusicarchive.org under a Creative Commons noncommercial attribution license. Our logo was created by Jude Weaver.

This is episode 63. It was recorded on July 17, 2019.

Editors of scientific journals have a lot of power. For one thing, journals are the main way that scientific work is distributed, so editors' decisions control the flow of information among scientists and to the public. For another, publications are probably the single most consequential product in evaluating scientists for jobs and career advancement. Simine just wrapped up a term as an editor of a journal, and in this episode she reflects on how much power she had, why it was probably too much, and what she could do next about that. Her big idea is to "flip" herself - dedicate her time and energy to posting open reviews of preprints. Preprints are a way for scientists to distribute their work outside of the control of gatekeepers, and we talk about the promises and the perils of open reviewing and how Simine plans to do it in a principled and ethical way. Plus: We answer a letter about talking to colleagues outside the "open science bubble."

Links:

• had i been editor in chief, Simine's vision statement for Psychological Science
• flip yourself - part i and flip yourself - part ii by Simine

The Black Goat is hosted by Sanjay Srivastava, Alexa Tullett, and Simine Vazire. Find us on the web at www.theblackgoatpodcast.com, on Twitter at @blackgoatpod, on Facebook at facebook.com/blackgoatpod/, and on instagram at @blackgoatpod. You can email us at letters@theblackgoatpodcast.com. You can subscribe to us on iTunes or Stitcher.

Our theme music is Peak Beak by Doctor Turtle, available on freemusicarchive.org under a Creative Commons noncommercial attribution license. Our logo was created by Jude Weaver.

This is episode 62. It was recorded on June 20, 2019.

Research methods and statistics are a part of nearly every undergraduate psychology curriculum. They get dedicated courses of their own as well as coverage within other courses. In this episode we step back and reflect on how they should fit into an undergraduate curriculum and how we should be teaching them. Can and should we try to teach them important concepts without the underlying math? How do we integrate methodology into "substantive" teaching about psychology theories and findings? What should we do with the knowledge that many, probably most of our students will never calculate a correlation coefficient or run a t-test after they graduate? How idealistic versus pragmatic should we be about teaching these topics and what we'll actually get across? Plus: We respond to a letter from a new-ish grad student about mentoring an undergraduate who is writing their first paper. 

The Black Goat is hosted by Sanjay Srivastava, Alexa Tullett, and Simine Vazire. Find us on the web at www.theblackgoatpodcast.com, on Twitter at @blackgoatpod, on Facebook at facebook.com/blackgoatpod/, and on instagram at @blackgoatpod. You can email us at letters@theblackgoatpodcast.com. You can subscribe to us on iTunes or Stitcher.

Our theme music is Peak Beak by Doctor Turtle, available on freemusicarchive.org under a Creative Commons noncommercial attribution license. Our logo was created by Jude Weaver.

This is episode 61. It was recorded on June 19, 2019.

Many academics have flexibility in when, where, and how they get work done. In this episode we talk about the work habits we've developed to be productive, and the ones we've tried on that didn't fit. What are the differences between working in an office, at home, at a cafe, or elsewhere? How do you create routines and protect your time to get things done? Is it better to work with other people or alone? How do you recognize when the advice that works for everybody else doesn't work for you? Plus: With some help from sociologist Jill Harrison, we answer a letter from a first-generation college student who's now in a Ph.D. program and having a hard time talking to family about what that's about.

Links:

• Jill Harrison's profile
• Limbo: Blue-Collar Roots, White-Collar Dreams by Alfred Lubrano
• The Working-Class Studies Association
• LabScrum: A Case Study For Agility in Academic Research Labs by Lisa May and Tamara Runyon

The Black Goat is hosted by Sanjay Srivastava, Alexa Tullett, and Simine Vazire. Find us on the web at www.theblackgoatpodcast.com, on Twitter at @blackgoatpod, on Facebook at facebook.com/blackgoatpod/, and on instagram at @blackgoatpod. You can email us at letters@theblackgoatpodcast.com. You can subscribe to us on iTunes or Stitcher.

Our theme music is Peak Beak by Doctor Turtle, available on freemusicarchive.org under a Creative Commons noncommercial attribution license. Our logo was created by Jude Weaver.

This is episode 60. It was recorded on May 31, 2019.

Most doctoral training in psychology follows an apprentice model: Grad students affiliate with a primary advisor and lab, and do most of their training under that one person. But what happens when grad students and professors develop professional relationships outside of that traditional model? In this episode we discuss the politics and etiquette of students and faculty interacting and working together outside of the advisor-advisee model. How much control do - and should - advisors have over their advisees? How should faculty go about supporting and criticizing the work of students from other labs? What are the issues involved when faculty intervene (or don't) in other advisor-advisee relationships? Plus: We answer a letter from an early-career researcher wondering if they should withdraw from a paper that is less rigorous and less open than they would like it to be.

The Black Goat is hosted by Sanjay Srivastava, Alexa Tullett, and Simine Vazire. Find us on the web at www.theblackgoatpodcast.com, on Twitter at @blackgoatpod, on Facebook at facebook.com/blackgoatpod/, and on instagram at @blackgoatpod. You can email us at letters@theblackgoatpodcast.com. You can subscribe to us on iTunes or Stitcher.

Our theme music is Peak Beak by Doctor Turtle, available on freemusicarchive.org under a Creative Commons noncommercial attribution license. Our logo was created by Jude Weaver.

This is episode 59. It was recorded on May 17, 2019.

To users of R, it is more than just another way to analyze data - it goes along with a different mindset about the centrality of coding in doing science, a way of thinking about openness and reproducibility, an intersecting set of tools, and a community of users with its own culture and mindset. In this episode we talk about the rise of R within the psychology research community. How has the importance of statistical software changed over time? Should we be teaching R to grads and undergrads? What have our own experiences learning new software been, and can you teach an old goat new tricks? Plus: We answer a letter about how to address ageism on the academic job market.

The Black Goat is hosted by Sanjay Srivastava, Alexa Tullett, and Simine Vazire. Find us on the web at www.theblackgoatpodcast.com, on Twitter at @blackgoatpod, on Facebook at facebook.com/blackgoatpod/, and on instagram at @blackgoatpod. You can email us at letters@theblackgoatpodcast.com. You can subscribe to us on iTunes or Stitcher.

Our theme music is Peak Beak by Doctor Turtle, available on freemusicarchive.org under a Creative Commons noncommercial attribution license. Our logo was created by Jude Weaver.

This is episode 58. It was recorded on May 2, 2019.

What if there were no journals? Would academic life be barren and empty, noisy and chaotic, happy and egalitarian, or something else entirely? In this episode we conduct an extended thought experiment about life without journals, in order to probe questions about what journals actually do for us anyway, what are other ways to achieve those things, and how we might overcome the downsides of the current scientific publishing ecosystem. How else could peer review work? How would researchers find information and know what to read? Would we just replace our current heuristics and biases with new ones? Plus: We answer a letter about whether to slow down to do higher-quality research or to focus on flashy results at top journals.

Links:

• Scientific Utopia: I. Opening scientific communication, by Brian Nosek and Yoav Bar-Anan
• Mike Frank's Twitter thread on an ethical framework for open science

The Black Goat is hosted by Sanjay Srivastava, Alexa Tullett, and Simine Vazire. Find us on the web at www.theblackgoatpodcast.com, on Twitter at @blackgoatpod, on Facebook at facebook.com/blackgoatpod/, and on instagram at @blackgoatpod. You can email us at letters@theblackgoatpodcast.com. You can subscribe to us on iTunes or Stitcher.

Our theme music is Peak Beak by Doctor Turtle, available on freemusicarchive.org under a Creative Commons noncommercial attribution license. Our logo was created by Jude Weaver.

This is episode 57. It was recorded on April 17, 2019.

The contact hypothesis is an old idea in social psychology. It posits that under the right circumstances, bringing people from different groups together can reduce prejudice. In this episode, we discuss a new field experiment by Salma Mousa testing whether putting Iraqi Christians and Muslims on soccer teams together can rebuild social cohesion after war. Part of our conversation focuses on the direct implications of this work for the contact hypothesis. We also discuss how this study stands out against some common patterns in social science research. Why, despite the long history of research and intuitive appeal of the contact hypothesis, have no studies like this been done before? How did this paper benefit from integrating rigorous quantitative methods with a careful understanding of history and context? How did a commitment to not just the letter, but also the spirit, of preregistration keep the conclusions aligned so well with the data? Plus: We answer a letter about whether the COVID pandemic means this is an especially bad time to start a Ph.D. program.

Links:

• Building social cohesion between Christians and Muslims through soccer in post-ISIS Iraq, by Salma Mousa
• Can playing together help us live together? Commentary by Elizabeth Levy Paluck and Chelsey Clark
• Twitter thread by Betsy Paluck

The Black Goat is hosted by Sanjay Srivastava, Alexa Tullett, and Simine Vazire. Find us on the web at www.theblackgoatpodcast.com, on Twitter at @blackgoatpod, on Facebook at facebook.com/blackgoatpod/, and on instagram at @blackgoatpod. You can email us at letters@theblackgoatpodcast.com. You can subscribe to us on iTunes or Stitcher.

Our theme music is Peak Beak by Doctor Turtle, available on freemusicarchive.org under a Creative Commons noncommercial attribution license. Our logo was created by Jude Weaver.

This is episode 83. It was recorded on August 19/20 (US/AUS), 2020.

What is the connection between methodology and ethics? In the early days of the twenty-teens, some people referred to the changes afoot in psychology as a "scientific integrity movement," but that term quickly faded. In this episode, we explore the connections between scientific rigor and scientific ethics. What are the ethical dimensions of good methods? When do we have an ethical obligation to make sure that our studies can answer our questions? Are there ethical obligations that go beyond considerations around protecting human subjects? Why do we sometimes shy away from connecting science reform with ethical behavior? Plus: We answer a letter about data parasites.

Links:

• Science and ethics in conducting, analyzing, and reporting psychological research, by Robert Rosenthal
• nothing beats something, by Simine Vazire
• Making data sharing count: a publication-based solution, by Krzysztof J. Gorgolewski, Daniel S. Margulies, and Michael P. Milham
• Practical tips for ethical data sharing, by Michelle Meyer

The Black Goat is hosted by Sanjay Srivastava, Alexa Tullett, and Simine Vazire. Find us on the web at www.theblackgoatpodcast.com, on Twitter at @blackgoatpod, on Facebook at facebook.com/blackgoatpod/, and on instagram at @blackgoatpod. You can email us at letters@theblackgoatpodcast.com. You can subscribe to us on iTunes or Stitcher.

Our theme music is Peak Beak by Doctor Turtle, available on freemusicarchive.org under a Creative Commons noncommercial attribution license. Our logo was created by Jude Weaver.

This is episode 56. It was recorded on April 12, 2019.

Psychology calls itself a behavioral science, but how often do we measure actual behavior? In this episode we discuss what is involved in measuring realistic, meaningful behavior in psychology research - not just self-reports and response times. What counts as "behavior" anyway? Why does it seem like psychologists measure less behavior than they used to? What are the scientific, professional, or logistical reasons why researchers decide not to measure behavior? Our discussion is anchored around an article by Roy Baumeister, Kathleen Vohs, and David Funder with the delightful title "Psychology as the Science of Self-Reports and Finger Movements: Whatever Happened to Actual Behavior?" (linked below). Plus: We answer a letter about whether or how to try to get a retention offer as you are advancing in your career.

Links:

• Psychology as the Science of Self-Reports and Finger Movements: Whatever Happened to Actual Behavior? by Roy Baumeister, Kathleen Vohs, and David Funder (full text)
• Measuring Happiness Is Harder (But Maybe Also Easier) Than You Think, by Rich Lucas
• Social Psychology and Science: Some Lessons From Solomon Asch by Paul Rozin (full text)
• Hedge drift and advanced motte-and-bailey, by Stefan Schubert

The Black Goat is hosted by Sanjay Srivastava, Alexa Tullett, and Simine Vazire. Find us on the web at www.theblackgoatpodcast.com, on Twitter at @blackgoatpod, on Facebook at facebook.com/blackgoatpod/, and on instagram at @blackgoatpod. You can email us at letters@theblackgoatpodcast.com. You can subscribe to us on iTunes or Stitcher.

Our theme music is Peak Beak by Doctor Turtle, available on freemusicarchive.org under a Creative Commons noncommercial attribution license. Our logo was created by Jude Weaver.

This is episode 55. It was recorded on March 18, 2019.

If you are a scientist, criticizing science is a part of the job. We write peer reviews of papers and grants; after talks we ask questions, make comments, and ask questions that are more of a comment; and sometimes we even run replications or new studies to test each other's conclusions. But the scientific ecosystem does not have people who hold the dedicated job of science critic, in the way that fields like art, theater, and music have critics. In this episode we consider an argument made by philosopher Don Ihde that the scientific ecosystem needs such people too - people whose job it is to criticize science from outside the day-to-day practice of it. What is the case for dedicated critics? Are there important kinds of criticism that scientists are not currently making? What would that job look like, and how would it differ from the peer criticism that scientists currently do? Plus: We respond to a letter about how to start getting asked to review papers.

Links:

• Why Not Science Critics? by Don Ihde (full text)

The Black Goat is hosted by Sanjay Srivastava, Alexa Tullett, and Simine Vazire. Find us on the web at www.theblackgoatpodcast.com, on Twitter at @blackgoatpod, on Facebook at facebook.com/blackgoatpod/, and on instagram at @blackgoatpod. You can email us at letters@theblackgoatpodcast.com. You can subscribe to us on iTunes or Stitcher.

Our theme music is Peak Beak by Doctor Turtle, available on freemusicarchive.org under a Creative Commons noncommercial attribution license. Our logo was created by Jude Weaver.

This is episode 54. It was recorded on February 18, 2019.

Self-promotion: the idea makes some people cringe and others salivate. In this episode, we talk about self-promotion in academic science. What amount - and maybe more importantly, what kind - is right? Why do some people shy away from it while others dive in? What even counts as self-promotion? Is it a luxury to be able to do without active self-promotion? How do cultural and other differences play into self-promotion? Plus: We answer a letter about bringing open science practices into clinical psychology.

Links:

• Leveraging the open science framework in clinical psychological assessment research, by Jennifer Tackett, Cassandra Brandes, and Kathleen Reardon
• Using implementation science to close the gap between the optimal and typical practice of quantitative methods in clinical science, by Kevin King, Michael D. Pullmann, Aaron R. Lyon, Shannon Dorsey, and Cara C. Lewis
• Practical tips for ethical data sharing, by Michelle N. Meyer
• Recommendations for increasing the transparency of analysis of pre-existing datasets, by Sara Weston, Stuart Ritchie, Julia Rohrer, and Andrew Przybylski
• Dorothy Bishop's blog, BishopBlog
• Teaching replication, by Michael C. Frank and Rebecca Saxe
• The Collaborative Replications and Education Project
• A few people to follow on Twitter for open and transparent clinical psychological science: Grace Binion, Cassie Brandes, Kevin King, Kathleen Reardon, Jennifer Tackett

The Black Goat is hosted by Sanjay Srivastava, Alexa Tullett, and Simine Vazire. Find us on the web at www.theblackgoatpodcast.com, on Twitter at @blackgoatpod, on Facebook at facebook.com/blackgoatpod/, and on instagram at @blackgoatpod. You can email us at letters@theblackgoatpodcast.com. You can subscribe to us on iTunes or Stitcher.

Our theme music is Peak Beak by Doctor Turtle, available on freemusicarchive.org under a Creative Commons noncommercial attribution license. Our logo was created by Jude Weaver.

This is episode 53. It was recorded on February 15, 2019.

Love them or hate them, conferences are a big part of academic life. In this episode we talk about getting the most out of a conference experience. How do you meet people (the dreaded "networking") and make the transition from feeling awkward to comfortable when you're new to a conference? How do you decide what to go to and what to skip? What are the etiquette and norms you should know about? How does the experience of going to a conference change over the course of your career? We share our tips, experiences, and stories from over the years. Plus: A letter about getting familiar with the literature for your first research project.

Links:

• Nobody Goes There Anymore, It's Too Crowded, our previous episode on whether conferences should even exist (but if you came down on "no," consider the latest episode harm reduction)

The Black Goat is hosted by Sanjay Srivastava, Alexa Tullett, and Simine Vazire. Find us on the web at www.theblackgoatpodcast.com, on Twitter at @blackgoatpod, on Facebook at facebook.com/blackgoatpod/, and on instagram at @blackgoatpod. You can email us at letters@theblackgoatpodcast.com. You can subscribe to us on iTunes. 

Our theme music is Peak Beak by Doctor Turtle, available on freemusicarchive.org under a Creative Commons noncommercial attribution license. Our logo was created by Jude Weaver.

This is episode 52. It was recorded on January 25, 2019.

Whether you call it a crisis, a renaissance, a revolution, or something else, there is no doubt that psychology is in the middle of a period of great change. How will future historians, scientists, and others look back on this moment in our field's history? We speculate on what changes we think will stuck, whether some things will look silly or naive in hindsight, what new problems or issues will rise in importance, and more. Plus: We respond to a letter about whether, when, and how to disclose a disability during the job search (and we invite feedback from people with more experience or expertise than us).

Links:

• A Short (Personal) Future History of Revolution 2.0 by Bobbie Spellman
• The Psychological Science Accelerator: Advancing Psychology through a Distributed Collaborative Network by Hannah Moshontz et al.

The Black Goat is hosted by Sanjay Srivastava, Alexa Tullett, and Simine Vazire. Find us on the web at www.theblackgoatpodcast.com, on Twitter at @blackgoatpod, on Facebook at facebook.com/blackgoatpod/, and on instagram at @blackgoatpod. You can email us at letters@theblackgoatpodcast.com. You can subscribe to us on iTunes. 

Our theme music is Peak Beak by Doctor Turtle, available on freemusicarchive.org under a Creative Commons noncommercial attribution license. Our logo was created by Jude Weaver.

This is episode 51. It was recorded on January 7, 2019.

Go to the "Psychology" section in a bookstore and chances are it will be full of self-help books. In this episode we talk about self-help and its relationship to academic psychology. What is the difference between a scientist and a self-help guru? How do we feel about the ways that self-help books talk about empirical research, and do we think they should do more of that or less of it? What self-help books have we read, and what did we think of them? Plus: We answer a letter from a n00b assistant professor who wants grad students to respect their authoritah.

The Black Goat is hosted by Sanjay Srivastava, Alexa Tullett, and Simine Vazire. Find us on the web at www.theblackgoatpodcast.com, on Twitter at @blackgoatpod, on Facebook at facebook.com/blackgoatpod/, and on instagram at @blackgoatpod. You can email us at letters@theblackgoatpodcast.com. You can subscribe to us on iTunes. 

Our theme music is Peak Beak by Doctor Turtle, available on freemusicarchive.org under a Creative Commons noncommercial attribution license. Our logo was created by Jude Weaver.

This is episode 50. It was recorded on January 4, 2019.

Continuing an annual tradition, for our last episode of 2018 we talk about noteworthy events and reflections from our lives in the past year. Alexa finds that she's growing more sentimental with age. Alexa and Sanjay commune over rediscovering reading books for pleasure. Sanjay muses about the legitimate benefits of taking a sabbatical. Simine reflects on the joys of meeting new people and reinventing yourself on the road. Plus: We answer a letter about how you now when a place of work is "the one"? 

The Black Goat is hosted by Sanjay Srivastava, Alexa Tullett, and Simine Vazire. Find us on the web at www.theblackgoatpodcast.com, on Twitter at @blackgoatpod, on Facebook at facebook.com/blackgoatpod/, and on instagram at @blackgoatpod. You can email us at letters@theblackgoatpodcast.com. You can subscribe to us on iTunes. 

Our theme music is Peak Beak by Doctor Turtle, available on freemusicarchive.org under a Creative Commons noncommercial attribution license. Our logo was created by Jude Weaver.

This is episode 49. It was recorded in two parts on December 18, 2018.

Many psychologists study the brain or the body in relation to the mind. Alexa once thought psychophysiology and neuroscience would become a central part of her research; Sanjay flirted with the idea; Simine never seriously considered it. In this episode, we talk about how we see neuroscience and psychophysiology in relation to our own work. How well would those areas integrate into the research each of us does? What sorts of psychological questions are they not particularly well suited for? What do we think they are good for? What kinds of things do we learn from our colleagues who've made studying the brain and body a central part of what they do? Plus: A letter about avoiding taking money from funders who go against your values.

Links:

• This is your Brain on Psychology – This is your Psychology on Brain by Rob Chavez
• Can Cognitive Processes by Inferred from Neuroimaging Data? by Russ Poldrack
• The Iron Psychologist with Jamil Zaki (episode 13)

The Black Goat is hosted by Sanjay Srivastava, Alexa Tullett, and Simine Vazire. Find us on the web at www.theblackgoatpodcast.com, on Twitter at @blackgoatpod, on Facebook at facebook.com/blackgoatpod/, and on instagram at @blackgoatpod. You can email us at letters@theblackgoatpodcast.com. You can subscribe to us on iTunes. 

Our theme music is Peak Beak by Doctor Turtle, available on freemusicarchive.org under a Creative Commons noncommercial attribution license. Our logo was created by Jude Weaver.

This is episode 48. It was recorded in two parts on December 3, 2018.

The open science movement is not the first time psychology has tried to reform itself. Why do some scientific reform movements succeed and others fizzle out? In this episode we talk with Fiona Fidler, a philosopher and historian of science at the University of Melbourne. Fiona's doctoral thesis was an investigation of a decades-spanning attempt to reform statistical practice in psychology based on critiques of null hypothesis significance testing. Her research included interviews with reform proponents like Patricia Cohen, Paul Meehl, and Robert Rosenthal; reviews of the correspondence and output of the APA Task Force on Statistical Inference; and close study of how several psychology journals attempted to implement reform. The statistical reform movement came to what many saw as an unsatisfying end. We talk with Fiona about what we can learn from it - and crucially, why this time could be different. Plus: We answer a letter from a graduate student whose advisor's temperament has changed.

Links:

• Autumn (Episode 129 of Reply All)
• From Statistical Significance to Effect Estimation: Statistical Reform in Psychology, Medicine and Ecology by Fiona Fidler
• Fiona Fidler's website

The Black Goat is hosted by Sanjay Srivastava, Alexa Tullett, and Simine Vazire. Find us on the web at www.theblackgoatpodcast.com, on Twitter at @blackgoatpod, on Facebook at facebook.com/blackgoatpod/, and on instagram at @blackgoatpod. You can email us at letters@theblackgoatpodcast.com. You can subscribe to us on iTunes.

Our theme music is Peak Beak by Doctor Turtle, available on freemusicarchive.org under a Creative Commons noncommercial attribution license. Our logo was created by Jude Weaver.

This is episode 47. It was recorded in two parts on November 15 and November 25, 2018.

Scientific journal articles have a lot of numbers. Scientists are smart people with even smarter computers, so an outsider might think that, if nothing else, you can count on the math checking out. But modern data analysis is complicated, and computational reproducibility is far from guaranteed. In this episode, we discuss a recent set of articles published at the journal Cortex. A group of authors set out to replicate an influential 2010 article that claimed that if you reactivate a fear-laden memory, it becomes possible to change the emotional association - something with clear relevance to clinical practice. Along the way, the replicating scientists encountered anomalies which led them to try to reproduce the analyses in the original study - and they discovered that they could not. We talk about what this means for science. What are the implications of knowing that for a nontrivial number if scientific studies, the math doesn't add up? Will a new era of open data and open code be enough to fix the problem? How much will Verification Reports - a new publication format that Cortex has introduced - help with that process? Plus: We answer a letter about swinging for the fences when your dream job comes up but you don't feel ready yet.

Links:

• The three R's of scientific integrity: Replicability, reproducibility, and robustness, by Robert McIntosh and Chris Chambers
• The Validity of the Tool “statcheck” in Discovering Statistical Reporting Inconsistencies, by Michèle Nuijten et al
• Analytic reproducibility in articles receiving open data badges at Psychological Science: An observational study, by Tom Hardwicke et al

The Black Goat is hosted by Sanjay Srivastava, Alexa Tullett, and Simine Vazire. Find us on the web at www.theblackgoatpodcast.com, on Twitter at @blackgoatpod, on Facebook at facebook.com/blackgoatpod/, and on instagram at @blackgoatpod. You can email us at letters@theblackgoatpodcast.com. You can subscribe to us on iTunes or Stitcher.

Our theme music is Peak Beak by Doctor Turtle, available on freemusicarchive.org under a Creative Commons noncommercial attribution license. Our logo was created by Jude Weaver.

This is episode 82. It was recorded on August 10, 2020.

Scientists, like all humans, care about more than one thing in life. Scientists want to discover true or useful things about the world. But we are not indifferent to money, prestige, loyalty to friends and family, or other important things. How should scientists deal with situations where more than just our pure scientific ideals are on the line? In this episode we discuss conflicts of interest. What are conflicts of interest anyway? What are commonly occurring ones? Why does our field of psychology seem to have an underdeveloped set of norms and regulations for dealing with them? And how can and should we change to do better? Plus: We answer a letter about how little or how much guidance to give undergrads to develop their own research interests.

Links:

• Understanding Financial Conflicts of Interest by Dennis Thompson
• What (and Where) Is the Ethical Code Concerning Researcher Conflict of Interest? (ungated link) by Anthony Greenwald

The Black Goat is hosted by Sanjay Srivastava, Alexa Tullett, and Simine Vazire. Find us on the web at www.theblackgoatpodcast.com, on Twitter at @blackgoatpod, on Facebook at facebook.com/blackgoatpod/, and on instagram at @blackgoatpod. You can email us at letters@theblackgoatpodcast.com. You can subscribe to us on iTunes.

Our theme music is Peak Beak by Doctor Turtle, available on freemusicarchive.org under a Creative Commons noncommercial attribution license. Our logo was created by Jude Weaver.

This is episode 46. It was recorded on October 31, 2018.

Personality tests are perennially popular - good ones and bad ones alike. In this episode we talk about personality testing in the public sphere. What do we think accounts for their popularity. What do people get out of taking them? What distinguishes good ones from bad ones? And we spend a little time trying to guess each other's Big Five profiles. Plus: A letter about raising open science when you're applying to graduate school.

The Black Goat is hosted by Sanjay Srivastava, Alexa Tullett, and Simine Vazire. Find us on the web at www.theblackgoatpodcast.com, on Twitter at @blackgoatpod, on Facebook at facebook.com/blackgoatpod/, and on instagram at @blackgoatpod. You can email us at letters@theblackgoatpodcast.com. You can subscribe to us on iTunes.

Our theme music is Peak Beak by Doctor Turtle, available on freemusicarchive.org under a Creative Commons noncommercial attribution license.

This is episode 45. It was recorded on October 16, 2018.

p-values. Love them or hate them, they are everywhere in science. In this episode we talk about some of our thoughts and feelings about this ubiquitous statistics. What are the drawbacks and benefits to dichotomizing results into "significant" and "nonsignificant"? What do we think of other statistical approaches as alternatives or complements, like effect size estimation or Bayes factors? Do we ever actually care about what p-values actually represent (the probability of data given a hypothesis)? And with no small trepidation, we wade into the Alpha Wars, a.k.a. the discussion and debate around a trio of papers representing different views on how p-values should be used in research. Plus: We respond to a letter about suppressing research findings when they conflict with your morals

Links:

• Redefine Statistical Significance
• Justify Your Alpha
• Abandon Statistical Significance

The Black Goat is hosted by Sanjay Srivastava, Alexa Tullett, and Simine Vazire. Find us on the web at www.theblackgoatpodcast.com, on Twitter at @blackgoatpod, on Facebook at facebook.com/blackgoatpod/, and on instagram at @blackgoatpod. You can email us at letters@theblackgoatpodcast.com. You can subscribe to us on iTunes.

Our theme music is Peak Beak by Doctor Turtle, available on freemusicarchive.org under a Creative Commons noncommercial attribution license.

This is episode 43. It was recorded on October 3, 2018.

"Public trust in science is declining" is a common refrain - but it turns out that it isn't true, or at best it's complicated. In this episode we discuss whether, when, and why the public should trust science. Why is public trust in science important anyway? How should people decide whether to trust research they cannot technically evaluate? Should scientists avoid criticizing each other in public because it will erode our public image? What is a scientific consensus, when should you take one as a valid indicator, and when shouldn't you? Plus: We answer a letter about preparing for the job market when you have focused your training on methods and skills rather than a coherent subject area.

Links:

• A Credibility Crisis in Food Science by James Hanblin in The Atlantic
• The Complex Interface between the Public and Science by Carrie Funk at Scientific American
• Why We Should Trust Science, Naomi Oreskes's TED talk
• What Is the Value of Social Science? Challenges for Researchers and Government Funders by Arthur Lupia in PS: Political Science and Politics
• The War Over Supercooled Water by Ashley G. Smart in Physics Today

The Black Goat is hosted by Sanjay Srivastava, Alexa Tullett, and Simine Vazire. Find us on the web at www.theblackgoatpodcast.com, on Twitter at @blackgoatpod, on Facebook at facebook.com/blackgoatpod/, and on instagram at @blackgoatpod. You can email us at letters@theblackgoatpodcast.com. You can subscribe to us on iTunes.

Our theme music is Peak Beak by Doctor Turtle, available on freemusicarchive.org under a Creative Commons noncommercial attribution license.

This is episode 43. It was recorded on September 27, 2018.

Getting tenure and being promoted to associate or full professor are huge milestones in an academic career path. In this episode we talk about what comes afterward. What does it feel like and how long does that last? Do you keep going in the same direction or pause to take stock and make a switch? What new responsibilities and other surprises come at you and how do you handle them? And now that you have more autonomy, how can you be less beholden to other people's ideas of what defines success? Plus: We answer a letter about finding eminent scientists for awards and lectures when you have doubts about how people have acquired their eminence.

The Black Goat is hosted by Sanjay Srivastava, Alexa Tullett, and Simine Vazire. Find us on the web at www.theblackgoatpodcast.com, on Twitter at @blackgoatpod, on Facebook at facebook.com/blackgoatpod/, and on instagram at @blackgoatpod. You can email us at letters@theblackgoatpodcast.com. You can subscribe to us on iTunes.

Our theme music is Peak Beak by Doctor Turtle, available on freemusicarchive.org under a Creative Commons noncommercial attribution license.

This is episode 42. It was recorded on September 10, 2018.

Conferences are expensive, carbon-belching, superficial prestige-fests. At least, that's what some people will tell you. In this episode we consider some of the arguments against academic conferences. Are they really worth the costs to the individual and to the planet? Can you actually communicate scientific substance in a conference or a talk? Are keynotes just warmed-over nuggets from your old Psych 101 class? And what are you even supposed to get out of conferences anyway? We discuss these arguments and relay some of our own dissatisfactions, but we also talk about why we keep going anyway. Plus: We answer a letter about breaking in to academic Twitter.

Link:

• Brad Love's tweet

The Black Goat is hosted by Sanjay Srivastava, Alexa Tullett, and Simine Vazire. Find us on the web at www.theblackgoatpodcast.com, on Twitter at @blackgoatpod, on Facebook at facebook.com/blackgoatpod/, and on instagram at @blackgoatpod. You can email us at letters@theblackgoatpodcast.com. You can subscribe to us on iTunes.

Our theme music is Peak Beak by Doctor Turtle, available on freemusicarchive.org under a Creative Commons noncommercial attribution license.

This is episode 41. It was recorded in two parts, on August 24 and September 3, 2018.

In this episode we tell personal stories about being different, and we reflect on how our identities and experiences - in life and in professional spheres - have been shaped by that. Sanjay talks about growing up multiracial and trying to figure out what that meant while the world was trying to define it for him. Simine talks about not conforming to gender expectations and the assumptions and reality about sexual orientation that go with that. Alexa talks about how her understanding of her own romantic and sexual attractions and interests evolved over time and how she started dating women. Along the way we identify some common themes in our experiences: Feeling constrained by the neat little boxes the world gives us, even when it's an expanded set of boxes. The tension between wanting to assert an important part of your identity and not wanting to claim experiences that the world will assume you had. And the importance of getting to tell your own story.

Plus: This week's letter is about what to do when reviewers and committee members send you on wild goose chases. And we have a very serious discussion about pooping in the woods.

Links:

• R for Data Science by Garrett Grolemund and Hadley Wickham
• Hannah Gadsby: Nanette (trailer; full video available on Netflix)
• Up From Pain by Charles Blow, New York Times
• Are Jews White? by Atiya Husain, Slate

The Black Goat is hosted by Sanjay Srivastava, Alexa Tullett, and Simine Vazire. Find us on the web at www.theblackgoatpodcast.com, on Twitter at @blackgoatpod, on Facebook at facebook.com/blackgoatpod/, and on instagram at @blackgoatpod. You can email us at letters@theblackgoatpodcast.com. You can subscribe to us on iTunes.

Our theme music is Peak Beak by Doctor Turtle, available on freemusicarchive.org under a Creative Commons noncommercial attribution license.

This is episode 40. It was recorded August 16, 2018.

We aren't analyzing you right now, we can't help you with your problems, and regardless of whether your Uncle Horace would make a great case study we aren't interested in meeting him. So what are these psychology degrees good for anyway then? In today's episode we talk about how our training and work as psychologists has influenced us as people. Are psychologists are good or bad at relating to others (and how much of the answer is about self-selection versus causation)? Has being a researcher made us more analytical outside of our research? How do we react when people bring up astrology or the Myers-Briggs? Plus: We respond to a letter about when doing more replications turns into beating a dead horse.

The Black Goat is hosted by Sanjay Srivastava, Alexa Tullett, and Simine Vazire. Find us on the web at www.theblackgoatpodcast.com, on Twitter at @blackgoatpod, on Facebook at facebook.com/blackgoatpod/, and on instagram at @blackgoatpod. You can email us at letters@theblackgoatpodcast.com. You can subscribe to us on iTunes.

Our theme music is Peak Beak by Doctor Turtle, available on freemusicarchive.org under a Creative Commons noncommercial attribution license.

This is episode 39. It was recorded August 2, 2018.

On today's episode we are joined by Ellen Evers, an assistant professor of marketing at the Haas School of Business at U.C. Berkeley. We talk with Ellen about working at a business school, and how it is similar and different from being in a psychology department; how people in different fields think about rationality, and how that plays out in her own interdisciplinary work; and how the larger conversation around open science and replicability has made its way into decision research and marketing. Plus: We answer a letter about dealing with a helicopter advisor as an early-career researcher.

Link:

• Ellen Evers homepage

The Black Goat is hosted by Sanjay Srivastava, Alexa Tullett, and Simine Vazire. Find us on the web at www.theblackgoatpodcast.com, on Twitter at @blackgoatpod, on Facebook at facebook.com/blackgoatpod/, and on instagram at @blackgoatpod. You can email us at letters@theblackgoatpodcast.com. You can subscribe to us on iTunes.

Our theme music is Peak Beak by Doctor Turtle, available on freemusicarchive.org under a Creative Commons noncommercial attribution license.

This is episode 38. It was recorded July 3, 2018.

In this episode we talk about situationism in psychology. What are some of the different definitions of situationism? Is it a theory? An agenda? An ideology? We talk about the evidence for various assumptions or predictions of situationism, the historical and political context in which it arose, the relation of situationist ideas to a historical rift between social and personality psychologists, and how situationism affects the field today. Plus: We respond to a letter about planning new research when you have doubts about what you are building on.

Links:

• Jedi Counsel episode "Ask Us Anything", where two actual clinicial psychologists respond to our previous letter from a clinical graduate student about podcasting
• The Actor–Observer Asymmetry in Attribution: A (Surprising) Meta-Analysis, by Bertram Malle
• About Situationism at the Situationist blog
• Simine's letter to Invisibilia

The Black Goat is hosted by Sanjay Srivastava, Alexa Tullett, and Simine Vazire. Find us on the web at www.theblackgoatpodcast.com, on Twitter at @blackgoatpod, on Facebook at facebook.com/blackgoatpod/, and on instagram at @blackgoatpod. You can email us at letters@theblackgoatpodcast.com. You can subscribe to us on iTunes.

Our theme music is Peak Beak by Doctor Turtle, available on freemusicarchive.org under a Creative Commons noncommercial attribution license.

This is episode 37. It was recorded June 18, 2018.

How does psychology's response to the replication crisis fit into a broader history of science? In this episode we discuss a paper by sociologists Jeremy Freese and David Peterson that takes on that question. Are "epistemic activists" in psychology redefining what it means to be objective in science? Does a focus on reforming incentives mean we view scientists as economic actors for whom motives and dispositions are irrelevant? Does the last decade's growth in meta-research mean that meta-analysis is the new arbiter of objectivity? Does a shift to a systems perspective on science have parallels in other systemic analyses of institutions? Plus: We answer a letter about whether raising new concerns when you're reviewing a revision is obligatory, a jerk move, or both.

Links:

• Freese & Peterson (2018). The Emergence of Statistical Objectivity: Changing Ideas of Epistemic Vice and Virtue in Science. DOI, full text
• Twitter discussion about positionality statements in quant papers
• White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism, by Robin DiAngelo
• Science as Social Knowledge: Values and Objectivity in Scientific Inquiry, by Helen Longino.

The Black Goat is hosted by Sanjay Srivastava, Alexa Tullett, and Simine Vazire. Find us on the web at www.theblackgoatpodcast.com, on Twitter at @blackgoatpod, on Facebook at facebook.com/blackgoatpod/, and on instagram at @blackgoatpod. You can email us at letters@theblackgoatpodcast.com. You can subscribe to us on iTunes or Stitcher.

Our theme music is Peak Beak by Doctor Turtle, available on freemusicarchive.org under a Creative Commons noncommercial attribution license. Our logo was created by Jude Weaver.

This is episode 81. It was recorded on July 22, 2020.

A lot of scientists only think about professional societies once every year or two when conference time comes around. But the inner workings of societies are often somewhat mysterious, and many of them do additional activities that are less visible. In this episode we talk about professional societies: what they do, how they are governed, where their money comes from and goes to, how they shape the work that scientists do, and how you can get involved in them. Plus: In the opening segment, we talk about a new article raising serious questions about the Stanford Prison Experiment and the way that it has been discussed and promoted. And we respond to a letter about whether hosting a podcast is compatible with starting a career as a clinical psychologist. 

Link:

• The Lifespan of a Lie, by Ben Blum

The Black Goat is hosted by Sanjay Srivastava, Alexa Tullett, and Simine Vazire. Find us on the web at www.theblackgoatpodcast.com, on Twitter at @blackgoatpod, or on Facebook at facebook.com/blackgoatpod/. You can email us at letters@theblackgoatpodcast.com. You can subscribe to us on iTunes.

Our theme music is Peak Beak by Doctor Turtle, available on freemusicarchive.org under a Creative Commons noncommercial attribution license.

This is episode 36. It was recorded June 11, 2018.

If you are a psychologist following how the field is changing its methods and practices, you have probably heard of Katie Corker. Katie is an assistant professor at Grand Valley State University, President of the Society for the Improvement of Psychological Science, and a rising star in metascience research. In the first part of our conversation, we talk about her professional path and what advice she has for people starting out. What should doctoral students know about applying to and working at primarily teaching institutions? How do you balance service commitments as an early-career researcher (and when do you throw balance out the window)? Then in the second part of our conversation, we discuss meta-analysis. What should we think of the quality of evidence produced by meta-analysis, in light of replicability problems and bias in the primary literature? What concerns should we have about the reproducibility of meta-analyses themselves? What is a systematic review, and what could psychology gain from adopting it as a publication format? Plus: We answer a letter from a first-year grad student about whether to submit their first big project to a high-impact traditional journal or a newer open-access one.

Links:

• The SHERPA/RoMEO database of journal copyright and open access policies
• Katie Corker's webpage
• Making literature reviews more reliable through application of lessons from systematic reviews
• What is the difference between a systematic review and a meta-analysis?

The Black Goat is hosted by Sanjay Srivastava, Alexa Tullett, and Simine Vazire. Find us on the web at www.theblackgoatpodcast.com, on Twitter at @blackgoatpod, or on Facebook at facebook.com/blackgoatpod/. You can email us at letters@theblackgoatpodcast.com. You can subscribe to us on iTunes.

Our theme music is Peak Beak by Doctor Turtle, available on freemusicarchive.org under a Creative Commons noncommercial attribution license.

This is episode 35. It was recorded May 21, 2018.

So you're thinking of taking your Ph.D. into industry. What kinds of jobs are out there for you? How do you find them? How do you get ready for them? In this episode we talk to guest Paul Litvak about working in the tech industry. Paul got his Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon where he studied behavioral decision making. During grad school he started up a data analytics consulting firm. He has worked at Facebook, Google, and now Airbnb where he is a product manager. We pick Paul's brain about the work he does and what advice he has for others. Plus: We answer a letter about applying open science in fields where longitudinal designs and other complicated methods are common.

Links:

• About our guest Paul Litvak
• FAQ for academic social scientists interested in tech, by Paul Litvak

The Black Goat is hosted by Sanjay Srivastava, Alexa Tullett, and Simine Vazire. Find us on the web at www.theblackgoatpodcast.com, on Twitter at @blackgoatpod, or on Facebook at facebook.com/blackgoatpod/. You can email us at letters@theblackgoatpodcast.com. You can subscribe to us on iTunes.

Our theme music is Peak Beak by Doctor Turtle, available on freemusicarchive.org under a Creative Commons noncommercial attribution license.

This is episode 34. It was recorded May 9, 2018.

You made it! Now what in the world happens next? In today's episode, we talk about starting your first tenure-track job. How do you get ready for your new role and responsibilities? What should you do to line up the mentorship, support, and reality-checking you'll need? How do you want your lab to operate? When should you start taking grad students? How do you get ready to teach? Plus: We get fired up about a letter from a grad student whose advisor and department are hostile to open science. And we discuss some recent resignations of editors at major journals.

Links:

• Some instances of apparent duplicate publication by Dr. Robert J. Sternberg, by Nick Brown
• The Unbearable Heaviness of Text Recycling, by James Heathers
• Dear APS: It’s not me, it’s YOU!, by Bobbie Spellman
• A Leading Political Scientist Used An Academic Journal To Deny Allegations of Sexual Harassment. Now He’s Resigned As Its Editor

The Black Goat is hosted by Sanjay Srivastava, Alexa Tullett, and Simine Vazire. Find us on the web at www.theblackgoatpodcast.com, on Twitter at @blackgoatpod, or on Facebook at facebook.com/blackgoatpod/. You can email us at letters@theblackgoatpodcast.com. You can subscribe to us on iTunes.

Our theme music is Peak Beak by Doctor Turtle, available on freemusicarchive.org under a Creative Commons noncommercial attribution license.

This is episode 33. It was recorded April 23, 2018.