I begin teaching an undergrad psychology research methods class next week, and thought it would be a good teaching tool to have students read a really bad empirical paper.
Ideally the lit review would be light/nonexistent, the method inappropriate, the results wrong/confusing, etc. This should not be a real paper that someone actually hoped to publish, but one that was written as a joke. I think this would help students draw a meaningful contrast with the well-designed, well-written studies I will also be assigning as reading.
Does anyone here know of such a resource? If not, maybe we should write one!
Look for the Annals of Improbable Research, which does it for laughs. Also check the IgNobel awards
Look for the Annals of Improbable Research, which does it for laughs. Also check the IgNobel awards
Just spent some time on the AIR site--what gems! This one isn't quite what I was looking for, but it is very entertaining: "Electron Band Structure In Germanium, My Ass" http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~kovar/hall.html
So, I ended up writing one of my own. It only took half an hour and it makes me laugh. For those who are interested: http://www.scribd.com/doc/121879990/Example-of-a-really-bad-empirical-research-paper
The Annals of Improbable Research is a wonderful source of papers for our library instruction classes - thanks for that! Making database searching or referencing more fun is a challenge!
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