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After reviewing the case study, it is possible to claim that there are several inconsistencies with the claims made in the scenario. First of all, the study creates a vivid claim in the title that does not correlate with the study conducted by the researcher. The entire case uses a false attraction for the readers in order to impose its agenda. The title suggests wearing red in order to be noticed in the crowd, but the study evaluates only the de-saturated colors of a narrow range in terms of saliency. Secondly, the study does not provide any hypothesis or research questions. Otherwise, the scenario claims that the researchers wanted to reveal if certain colors are more easily identified than the others. According to Lilienfeld et al. (2014) “for a theory to be scientific, it must generate novel predictions that researchers can test” (p. 7). The scenario does not gather a variety of observations, but tests old predictions on the basis of new conditions. The study aims to reveal which colors are more salient, yet the researchers study only the de-saturated colors. In this case, the research had to emphasize that it aims to study a limited amount of colors, which belong to the range of de-saturated ones.
Moreover, the scenario implemented the theoretical support for its claims by using the research of neuroscientists regarding color and its effect on humans. However, the theories used by the researchers do not comply with the purposes of the entire research. Lilienfeld et al. (2014) claimed that psychological effects are not independent that creates a difficulty in revealing what factors affect the behavior the most. The researchers used an oversimplified testing of the entire procedure by registering the reactions to visual search. They did not report any other important specificity that may influence the reactions of the participants. It is possible that there were factors affecting the response of the participants, but as there is no information about the settings and the conditions of the research, it is difficult to evaluate the internal validity of the research.
One of the six scientific principles claims that extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. This scientific principle requires producing a wide variety of evidence to support a particular claim before it can be accepted by the scientific community. In this case, the research tries to claim that the red color is the most recognizable among all. It also relies on the previous research claiming that saturated red color proved to be the most noticeable among the other colors. However, the study uses one experiment without a follow-up or a control group that studies de-saturated colors. The results of the experiment is quite narrow-specific because the research involves a small amount of the participants with the specific demographic characteristics. Also, the study uses one experiment to support its claims. It was acknowledged that de-saturated colors were not evaluated before, which means that the further research is required in order to support the results. The researchers who conducted the experiment had to use the follow-up study or to involve a control group in order to produce more evidence for the study.
One of the signs of pseudoscience related to this inquiry is exaggerated claims. According to Lilienfeld et al. (2014), this sign refers to the intention of the researchers to make strong claims without the evidence. It was noticed earlier that the title of the scenario suggests that the person in red cloths can attract more attention. This statement is too exaggerated comparing to the research design and the support provided by the researchers. The scholars were eager to support their results with the claims provided by the public, not related to the research and statements made by the questionable sources. By incorporating the observations of a student and a spiritual healer, the study reveals itself as pseudoscience. The point of view of the persons not related to the specific research or to the scientific community does not support the claims made in the course of the study. It is possible to claim that the scenario presented for the evaluation cannot be referred to as scientific.
One of the crucial mistakes of the research is the unrepresentative sample. The study uses the quantitative experiment that requires the researcher to recruit a substantial amount of participants (Rose, Chassin, Presson, & Sherman, 2000), while the current inquiry managed to involve only 12 respondents. The quantity of sample is inconsistent as well as the demographic characteristic of the participants. It was claimed that there were 9 males and only 3 females in the research meaning that the sample was not heterogenic. Also, the participants were the representatives of a narrow age range, which can affect the internal validity of the research. Also, such small quantity of the participants affects the generalizability of the results and their external validity. The results of the research could not be generalized to the wider population (Ware & Brewer, 1999). It is the major limitation in the research that cannot be considered as valid or reliable.
Lack of control group or a follow-up study is another flaw in the research methods of the current inquiry. The study performed an experiment only one time with a small group of participants, which cannot support the major claims made by the researchers in the beginning of the scenario. It was crucial to conduct a follow-up research or to employ control group in order to test the hypothesis and prove or disprove the initial claim. However, the researchers managed not to support its findings with the other experiments, which make the current scenario invalid and unreliable. It was emphasized by the scholars that the de-saturated colors were not tested previously, manning that it is essential to perform additional research.
Finally, the study tries to support the results with the inconsistent and unreliable sources of information that may be subjective and biased. Spiritual halers and students cannot be considered as the sources of the reliable information. The theoretical basis provided by the research also cannot be considered necessary, as it points to different direction and represents experimental science, which only started to develop rather than achieved scientifically proved results.
References
Lilienfeld, S. O., Lynn, S. J., Namy, L. L., Woolf, N. J., Cramer, K. M. & Schmaltz, R. (2014). Psychology: From inquiry to understanding. 2nd Canadian edition. Toronto, ON: Pearson.
Rose, J. S., Chassin, L., Presson, C. C., & Sherman, S. J. (2000). Multivariate Applications in Substance Use Research: New Methods for New Questions. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Ware, M. E., & Brewer, C. L. (1999). Handbook for Teaching Statistics and Research Methods (2nd ed.). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
