Sample characteristics for quantitative analyses in Body Image: Issues of generalisability

IF 5.2 1区 心理学 Q1 PSYCHIATRY
Thomas V. Pollet, Jeanne Bovet, Rosie Buhaenko, Piers L. Cornelissen, Martin J. Tovée
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Abstract

Psychological research frequently encounters criticism regarding the representativeness of the samples under study, highlighting concerns about the external validity of the obtained results. Here, we conducted a comprehensive survey of all the quantitative samples from the journal Body Image for 2021 (n = 149 samples). Our primary objective was to examine the extent to which the sampled populations deviated from the population at large, which could potentially compromise the generalizability of findings. We identified that a substantial number of these samples came from student populations (n = 44) and the majority were from the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia. Only a small number of samples (n = 9) employed direct measurements of body mass index (BMI), while the majority relied on self-reported data (n = 93). For a subset of samples in the journal, which were drawn from the general population, we compared whether these differed from population reference values in terms of age and BMI. Using Monte Carlo simulations, we found that samples tended to be younger and score lower on BMI than reference values obtained from the broader population. Samples drawn from female university students also tended to be lower on BMI than age-matched reference samples. We discuss the implications of our findings and make recommendations on sampling and inference. We conclude that a clearer specification of the parameters or conditions under which findings are expected to generalise has the potential to enhance the overall rigor and validity of this field of research.

身体形象》定量分析的样本特征:普遍性问题
心理学研究经常会遇到关于研究样本代表性的批评,这凸显了对研究结果外部有效性的担忧。在此,我们对《身体形象》杂志 2021 年的所有定量样本(n = 149 个样本)进行了一次全面调查。我们的主要目的是研究样本人群与总体人群的偏差程度,这可能会影响研究结果的普遍性。我们发现,这些样本中有相当一部分来自学生群体(n = 44),其中大多数来自美国、英国和澳大利亚。只有少数样本(9 个)采用了直接测量体重指数(BMI)的方法,而大多数样本则依赖于自我报告数据(93 个)。对于期刊中来自普通人群的子集样本,我们比较了这些样本在年龄和体重指数方面是否与人群参考值存在差异。通过蒙特卡洛模拟,我们发现,与从更广泛人群中获得的参考值相比,样本往往更年轻,体重指数得分更低。从女大学生中抽取的样本在体重指数上也往往低于年龄匹配的参考样本。我们讨论了研究结果的影响,并就抽样和推论提出了建议。我们的结论是,更明确地说明预期研究结果具有普遍性的参数或条件,有可能提高这一研究领域的整体严谨性和有效性。
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来源期刊
Body Image
Body Image Multiple-
CiteScore
8.70
自引率
28.80%
发文量
174
期刊介绍: Body Image is an international, peer-reviewed journal that publishes high-quality, scientific articles on body image and human physical appearance. Body Image is a multi-faceted concept that refers to persons perceptions and attitudes about their own body, particularly but not exclusively its appearance. The journal invites contributions from a broad range of disciplines-psychological science, other social and behavioral sciences, and medical and health sciences. The journal publishes original research articles, brief research reports, theoretical and review papers, and science-based practitioner reports of interest. Dissertation abstracts are also published online, and the journal gives an annual award for the best doctoral dissertation in this field.
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