Evaluating the pedagogical effectiveness of study preregistration in the undergraduate dissertation

Pownall, Madeleine, Pennington, Charlotte R., Norris, Emma, Juanchich, Marie, Smailes, David, Russell, Sophie, Gooch, Debbie, Evans, Thomas Rhys, Persson, Sofia, Mak, Matthew H. C., Tzavella, Loukia ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1463-9396, Monk, Rebecca, Gough, Thomas, Benwell, Christopher S. Y., Elsherif, Mahmoud, Farran, Emily, Gallagher-Mitchell, Thomas, Kendrick, Luke T., Bahnmueller, Julia, Nordmann, Emily, Zaneva, Mirela, Gilligan-Lee, Katie, Bazhydai, Marina, Jones, Andrew, Sedgmond, Jemma, Holzleitner, Iris, Reynolds, James, Moss, Jo, Farrelly, Daniel, Parker, Adam J. and Clark, Kait 2023. Evaluating the pedagogical effectiveness of study preregistration in the undergraduate dissertation. Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science 6 (4) , pp. 1-21. 10.1177/25152459231202724

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Abstract

Research shows that questionable research practices (QRPs) are present in undergraduate final-year dissertation projects. One entry-level Open Science practice proposed to mitigate QRPs is “study preregistration,” through which researchers outline their research questions, design, method, and analysis plans before data collection and/or analysis. In this study, we aimed to empirically test the effectiveness of preregistration as a pedagogic tool in undergraduate dissertations using a quasi-experimental design. A total of 89 UK psychology students were recruited, including students who preregistered their empirical quantitative dissertation (n = 52; experimental group) and students who did not (n = 37; control group). Attitudes toward statistics, acceptance of QRPs, and perceived understanding of Open Science were measured both before and after dissertation completion. Exploratory measures included capability, opportunity, and motivation to engage with preregistration, measured at Time 1 only. This study was conducted as a Registered Report; Stage 1 protocol: https://osf.io/9hjbw (date of in-principle acceptance: September 21, 2021). Study preregistration did not significantly affect attitudes toward statistics or acceptance of QRPs. However, students who preregistered reported greater perceived understanding of Open Science concepts from Time 1 to Time 2 compared with students who did not preregister. Exploratory analyses indicated that students who preregistered reported significantly greater capability, opportunity, and motivation to preregister. Qualitative responses revealed that preregistration was perceived to improve clarity and organization of the dissertation, prevent QRPs, and promote rigor. Disadvantages and barriers included time, perceived rigidity, and need for training. These results contribute to discussions surrounding embedding Open Science principles into research training.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Published Online
Status:	Published
Schools:	Psychology
Additional Information:	License information from Publisher: LICENSE 1: URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/, Start Date: 2023-12-21
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
ISSN:	2515-2459
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	2 January 2024
Date of Acceptance:	1 September 2023
Last Modified:	02 Jan 2024 15:45
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/165143

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