“Amateur Hour: Improving Knowledge Diversity in Psychological and Behavioral Science by Harnessing Contributions from Amateurs”, 2021-11-30 (; similar):
Low knowledge diversity is an important issue affecting psychological science.
We propose this issue could be resolved by harnessing contributions from amateurs.
We outline 6 “blind spots”—neglected areas in which amateurs could contribute.
We discuss how amateur contributions could be practically achieved.
Contemporary psychological and behavioral science suffers from a lack of diversity regarding the key intellectual activities that constitute it, including its theorizing, empirical approaches, and topics studied. We refer to this type of diversity as knowledge diversity.
To fix the knowledge diversity problem, scientists have proposed several solutions that would require transforming the field itself—an endeavor that can realistically be realized only in the long term. In this article, we propose that knowledge diversity could also be attained in the short term without transforming the field itself—by harnessing contributions from amateurs who can explore diverse aspects of psychology that are neglected in academia.
We identify 6 such “blind spot” areas within which amateurs could contribute and discuss how this could be practically achieved.
Blind spot
Description
Long-term projects
Projects (eg. theory development, research pursuit) that require dedication over a long period of time with uncertain payoffs.|
Basic observational research
Conducting observational studies that aim to identify new phenomena or characterize the generalizability of already known phenomena.
Speculation
Making speculations that are not limited by current methodological or other practical considerations.|
Interdisciplinary projects
Projects that combine diverse areas of psychology (and potentially other disciplines) and do not involve working within a specific area of expertise or topic.|
Aimless projects
Projects that do not have pre-determined goals or planned outcomes and evolve in any direction in which pursuing psychology-related ideas takes the person.|
Uncommon research areas
Research areas that are neglected by psychological scientists.|
Table 1: Blind spots that are not incentivized in academia and could be addressed by amateur psychologists to increase knowledge diversity in psychological and behavioral science.
We hope that our article will inspire professionals and academic institutions to be more open toward amateur contributions to create a diverse body of knowledge.
[Keywords: amateurs, knowledge diversity, psychology, blind-spots, inclusivity]