A Love Poem

I saw it in his eyes

I felt it

I couldn't stop smiling

He couldn't stop smiling

I was so happy

I still am

It exists

I couldn't wait for the morning

To tell the world it exists

Pop-psych Articles and Scientific Journals

-- A Brief Introduction and Comparison

So you have a personal problem... and you decided to read one of those pop-psych articles found in magazines or the internet. Do you know where those information come from? Now that you're here and reading this blog, I'd like to give you a background on two of the common sources of information that many people rely on.

Pop-psych Articles

One source of information is called popular psychology (or pop-psych) articles. You'll find them in magazines such as Cosmopolitan, Psychology Today, or Men's Health. These articles contain information which are based on theories or concepts commonly found in psychology. Some articles may contain scientific findings to support a claim. So what's the problem? The collection of theories or concepts found in these articles lack proper evaluations or measurements, and the scientific information used to support a claim is second-hand. So if you're relying on pop-psych articles for a solution to your problems, you might have to settle for 'trial and error' to see if the solution would work.

Let's take these phenomena as an example: An author wrote an article about a popular concept called "opposites attract". He expanded and supported his arguments using common-sense, experience or other established literatures. Meanwhile, another author wrote an article about "birds of the same feather flock together", which is contrary to the former notion. And just like the first author, he provided sound arguments to support his claim. So which one is correct?

Scientific Journals

An alternative to pop-psych article is called scientific journals. Scientific journals contain information that are based on research studies and are first-hand. A research study is far more reliable than a theory or idea because it involves proper evaluations or measurements. It is focused on establishing links or causal relationships between variables. The findings were derived using research designs such as an observation or experimentation. Scientific method was also followed to examine a phenomenon and to arrive at a conclusion. So if you were to compare the phenomena "opposites attract" and "birds of same feathers flock together", a scientific study will allow you to determine which one is more prevalent based on the parameters that you apply.

Now, when do we consider the results of a scientific study as facts? Say you decide to conduct a survey, and you're only referring to the responses of the participants... you can consider those responses as facts since the phenomena actually happened to your participants. However, this fact is of very little relevance because it is only applicable to your participants; you don't know if the results are applicable to you or to the population. So how do you make the result relevant? -- By applying statistics; hence the term statistical facts. With statistics, you can determine the significance of a certain phenomenon, and through this, you'll know the probability of it happening to you.

What are the pros and cons of pop-psych articles and scientific journals?

Both the pop-psych article and scientific journal have the same goal, to provide information on a certain topic. However, it is hard to compare them because they are mainly intended for different audience. Pop-psych articles would be ideal for the general public. They are written for those who need practical, concise, and jargon-free information. It is easy to understand and does not require a background in psychology. Scientific journals on the other hand are intended for fellow scholars, hence, require a detailed description of information. They can be boring and dry to read, however, in terms of reliability, scientific journals would be a better source of information.

Note that some pop-psych articles contain information based on a scientific study, and they are re-written in a manner that the general public would understand. However, you need to consider that these information are already second-hand, thus, the accuracy of the information may be reduced. Also, some authors have their own biases, so they may be selecting only the scientific studies that will support their claim. Inasmuch, it is possible that some findings were 'manipulated' to serve the purpose of the author or to be perceived as something relevant to the topic of the article. Finally, since most information in pop-psych articles sound promising and interesting, people may accept the assertions without question, especially when the authors bare the titles MD or PhD.

In the case of scientific journal, a background in psychology may be necessary. Non-academics might have trouble analyzing the data or interpreting the results. While the rigorous presentation of data is considered relevant to academics, this might not mean as much to the general public. Scientific studies also have limitations. Just because statistics is applied, it doesn't mean that the results are applicable to you or to the population. Scientific studies have their own level of significance, and sometimes, due to the limitation of the study, the results can't be generalized to the population.

Since many people rely on pop-psych information, there are certain repercussions that may arise. Evidently, their personal lives or conditions are at stake. If a particular information is inaccurate, it could have a detrimental outcome. In the same vein, if a particular information worked on an individual, he or she may swear by it and may start professing it to others, even though the particular information is not be applicable to others.

Personal Notes:

I was a stranger to scientific journals until I took my first Psychology course. I wouldn't have thought that I'd read a bunch of them until I finished college. Now I know that some of them are hard to read, some are also quite interesting and easy to understand. If you can read pop-psych articles, then scientific journals should not pose a lot of problem to you. You can just read the "discussion" and the "conclusion" section of the journal, and skip the "statistical analysis" section (if you don't know anything about stats). So I encourage everyone to read a scientific journal... it's really worth a shot!

Special thanks to research authors who realize that knowledge is for everybody. Thanks for writing scientific journals that both the general public and the scientific community could easily understand.