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EXTRAAP Psychology · Research Methods & Ethics
Activity
ACTIVITY

The Fall of a Superstar Psychologist

SWBAT / I can

Use the shape of a dataset to explain how a famous honesty study was exposed as fake — and explain why faking data is a serious ethics violation even when no participant is harmed.

Research methods · Ethics · SP 2, 3, 4
40 points · five partsAbout 45 min plus the video2024 CED science practices 2, 3, 4Answers on paper or screen

Full screen, one move at a time. Use ← → to move, Space to start, Esc to leave.

Before you run this

Students read these before the video and use them all period.

  • Data fabrication — making up data that was never collected.
  • Data falsification — changing real data so results look different than they were.
  • Peer review — experts check a study before a journal publishes it.
  • Replication — repeating a study to see if the same results appear.
  • Retraction — a journal officially withdraws a published study.
  • Normal distribution — bell-shaped data: most scores cluster near the mean, fewer at the extremes.
  • Uniform distribution — flat data: every value is about equally likely.
  • Institutional Review Board — a committee that reviews research to protect participants.
QR code linking to the video

Students scan with a phone camera to open the video. It links to youtu.be/Q3tSG8h_O3A. The same code is printed on the worksheet and shown on the student answer page.

Real driving has a hump. The study data was flat.Share of cars by miles driven (percent)Typical driversStudy data30%20%10%0%0–10k10–20k20–30k30–40k40–50k50k+Miles driven between the two odometer readings
Illustrative figures, not the actual dataset. The shapes are modeled on what the investigators reported.
Pick your class length

The handout gives only a total — about 45 minutes plus the video — so the bars show each part’s relative weight, not minutes.

    Key questions

    Bookends
    1. When one researcher breaks the rules, who pays the price?
    2. How can the shape of a dataset give a lie away?

    The first question is the hook and the last word. Put it on the board before the video and come back to it in Part 4’s ripple chart.

    Homework

    • 01Short period only: Part 5 reflection, 150–200 words, graded on the rubric.
    Alternates and extras
    Criteria2 points1 point0 points
    Answers the promptFully addresses every partAddresses some partsOff topic
    Specific exampleConcrete, detailed exampleVague exampleNone
    Connects to the caseClear link to the Ariely case or research ethicsBrief mentionNo link
    ReasoningConsiders more than one side or consequenceOne-sidedRestates only
    • Part 1 — key terms, 4 points
    • Part 2 — while you watch, 12 points
    • Part 3 — data detective, 8 points
    • Part 4 — apply AP concepts, 8 points
    • Part 5 — personal reflection, 8 points