Representation of Psychological Research

Upon reading this article, I was less skeptical because I have read several articles and blogs written by Dr. John Grohol that have been provided by the online site, PsychCentral.com-their mission statement "Learn, Share, Grow" speaks for itself. Therefore, I knew that the article would be interesting because he is great at providing specific details and credible criteria in order to support his evidence. Whether Dr. Grohol agrees or not, he still ensures his readers that his information is very much so reliable. In this essay, I will critique the representation of psychological research found online in an article from the website called PsychCentral.com.

Dr. Grohol's source of information used for his article consisted of information that is provided by highly credible corporations, such as the FDA and the New York Times. He also provided a reference and cited his work to give credit where credit it due. I do not recall evidence of over simplification (misleading information) being utilized as a way to increase his reputation. Reason being, Dr. Grohol has been sharing critical reliable information regarding psychological research studies since the year 1992 at no cost to any potential learner. Therefore, his goal to help others by providing credible psychological research criteria for others defines a higher purpose than monetary gains; he loves what he does. Dr. Grohol's furnishing of the online written piece-Psychology Secrets: Most Psychological studies are college student biased provided "proof" of his to support his research. For example, according to his text, John stated that "According to the study (performed by Western Psychologists), 68 percent of research subjects in a sample of hundreds of studies in leading psychology journals, came from the United States, and 96 percent from Western industrialized nations, of the American subject, 67 percent were undergraduates studying Psychology - making a randomly selected American undergraduate 4,000 times likely to be a subject that a random non-Westerner."(John. M. G., Psychology Secrets: Most Psychology Studies Are College Student Biased. 2010). He furnished proof of where the evidence derived from, as well as what the results amounted to be for the in accurate findings. The research suggests causation by inducing its readers to realize that college students are the most utilized source behind the methods used to perform research studies. However, in actuality, college students do not represent an entire diverse nation. Yet, according to Dr. Grohol, " Due to their convenience/laziness, cost, tradition, "good enough" data, psychology researchers have been getting away with using college students for most psychology research done in the United States is constantly done primarily on college students." (John. M. G., Psychology Secrets: Most Psychology Studies Are College Student Biased.