The Psychological Science Collective: A collaborative data collection network to improve the generalizability of psychological science

In this manuscript, we describe a model for collaborative data collection. It is well known that reliance on small, homogeneous samples of western students severely undermines the generalizability and replicability of research in psychological science. Without widespread implementation of a system to improve how data is collected and accessed, researchers will continue to rely on convenience samples. Here, we propose the Psychological Science Collective (PSC) as a solution. The goal of the PSC is to raise the standards for data collection in the psychological sciences and make well-powered, representative samples more commonplace. Creating a self-sustaining network where collaborating labs can pool their resources and gain access to larger and more representative samples from around the world will result in a net increase in sample size and generalizability across the field as a whole. For example, simulations suggest that ~150 labs of different sizes can pool their resources to conduct around ~50 studies with an average sample size exceeding N = 500 over the course of 12 weeks. This collaborative system is aimed at the “average” research project conducted by the “average” researcher. Thus, researchers at all career stages are encouraged to conduct research through the PSC rather than running the study in their own lab using convenience samples. Simulation file: https://osf.io/7462p/?view_only=0e5905f1a0f844ffad9c09cc266be2c9