Putting hypotheses to the test: We must hold ourselves accountable to decisions made before we see the data

Abstract

In the daily practice of doing research, it is easy to confuse what is being done. There is often confusion over whether a study is exploratory (hypothesis-generating) research or confirmatory (hypothesis-testing) research. By defining how a hypothesis or research question will be tested at the outset of research, preregistration eliminates this ambiguity. David Mellor outlines the value of preregistration for determining statistical significance and introduces a new prize for scholars aimed at encouraging this practice