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From description to generalization, or there and back again

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 February 2022

Kelsey L. West Open the ORCID record for Kelsey L. West [Opens in a new window] ,
Kasey C. Soska ,
Whitney G. Cole ,
Danyang Han ,
Justine E. Hoch ,
Christina M. Hospodar  and
Brianna E. Kaplan
Kelsey L. West
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY10003, [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]
Kasey C. Soska
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY10003, [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]
Whitney G. Cole
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY10003, [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]
Danyang Han
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY10003, [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]
Justine E. Hoch
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY10003, [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]
Christina M. Hospodar
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY10003, [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]
Brianna E. Kaplan
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY10003, [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]
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Abstract

In his target article, Yarkoni prescribes descriptive research as a potential antidote for the generalizability crisis. In our commentary, we offer four guiding principles for conducting descriptive research that is generalizable and enduring: (1) prioritize context over control; (2) let naturalistic observations contextualize structured tasks; (3) operationalize the target phenomena rigorously and transparently; and (4) attend to individual data.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 45 , 2022 , e37
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press

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References

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