Preregistration of secondary data analysis: A template and tutorial

Meta-Psychology, vol. 5

Abstract

Preregistration has been lauded as one of the solutions to the so-called ‘crisis of confidence’ in the social sciences and has therefore gained popularity in recent years. However, the current guidelines for preregistration have been developed primarily for studies where new data will be collected. Yet, preregistering secondary data analyses--- where new analyses are proposed for existing data---is just as important, given that researchers’ hypotheses and analyses may be biased by their prior knowledge of the data. The need for proper guidance in this area is especially desirable now that data is increasingly shared publicly. In this tutorial, we present a template specifically designed for the preregistration of secondary data analyses and provide comments and a worked example that may help with using the template effectively. Through this illustration, we show that completing such a template is feasible, helps limit researcher degrees of freedom, and may make researchers more deliberate in their data selection and analysis efforts.

Authors 14

1. Olmo R. van den Akker

   Tilburg University

   Affiliation as printed

   Tilburg University

2. Sara J. Weston

   University of Oregon

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Psychology , University of Oregon

   Department of Psychology, University of Oregon

3. Lorne Campbell

   Western University

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Psychology , University of Western On- tario

   Department of Psychology, University of Western On-tario

4. Bill Chopik

   Michigan State University

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Psychology, Michigan State University

5. Rodica Ioana Damian

   University of Houston

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Psychology, University of Houston

6. Pamela E. Davis-Kean

   University of Michigan

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Psychology , University of Michigan

   Department of Psychology, University of Michigan

7. Andrew Hall

   Northwestern University

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Psychology , Northwestern University

   Department of Psychology, Northwestern University

8. Jessica Elizabeth Kosie

   Princeton University

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Psychology , Princeton University

   Department of Psychology, Princeton University

9. Elliott Tyler Kruse

   Tecnológico de Monterrey

   Affiliation as printed

   EGADE Business School , Tec de Monterrey

   EGADE Business School, Tec de Monterrey

10. Jerome Olsen

    University of Vienna · Max Planck Institute for Behavioral Economics

    Affiliation as printed

    Department of Applied Psychology: Work, Education and Economy , University of Vienna Max Planck Insti- tute for Research on Collective Goods

    Department of Applied Psychology: Work, Education and Economy, University of Vienna Max Planck Insti-tute for Research on Collective Goods

11. Stuart James Ritchie

    King's College London · Columbia University

    Affiliation as printed

    Social , Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre , King's College

    Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, King's College

12. Katherine D. Valentine

    Massachusetts General Hospital

    Affiliation as printed

    Division of General Internal Medicine , Massachusetts General Hospital

    Division of General Internal Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital

13. Anna van 't Veer Aachen Methodology and Statistics Unit Institute of Psychol- ogy Institute of Psychol-ogy, Leiden University

    Leiden University

    Affiliation as printed

    Methodology and Statistics Unit , Institute of Psychol- ogy , Leiden University

    Methodology and Statistics Unit, Institute of Psychol-ogy, Leiden University

14. Marjan Bakker

    Tilburg University

    Affiliation as printed

    Department of Methodology and Statistics , Tilburg Uni- versity

    Department of Methodology and Statistics, Tilburg Uni-versity