Minimizing Mistakes in Psychological Science

Abstract

Developing and implementing best practices in organizing a lab is challenging, especially in the face of new cultural norms, such as the open-science movement. Part of this challenge in today’s landscape is using new technologies, including cloud storage and computer automation. In this article, we discuss a few practices designed to increase the reliability of scientific labs, focusing on ways to minimize common, ordinary mistakes. We borrow principles from the theory of high-reliability organizations, which has been used to characterize operational practices in high-risk environments, such as aviation and health care. Guided by these principles, we focus on five strategies: (a) implementing a lab culture focused on learning from mistakes, (b) using computer automation in data and metadata collection whenever possible, (c) standardizing organizational strategies, (d) using coded rather than menu-driven analyses, and (e) developing expanded documents that record how analyses were performed.