Examination of theses and research reports

I currently co-ordinate examinations for research reports and Masterate theses in the School of Psychology at Massey University.

I see thesis examination as an important service to the community, and am generally open to invitations to examine. When examining, I often find myself commenting on the topics listed below, so if you’re considering inviting me to examine a thesis you may find it helpful to share these articles with the student:

• Open science practices (see Crüwell et al., 2019).

• Sample size justification (see Lakens, 2022).

• Causal inference (see Grosz et al., 2020; Mockett et al., 2024; Rohrer et al., 2022). I find that many theses contain inconsistent claims about causality (e.g., disavowing causal inferences in the limitations section, but making action recommendations that rely on assumptions about causal effects elsewhere.)