Date of Award
8-2021
Culminating Project Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Applied Behavior Analysis: M.S.
Department
Community Psychology, Counseling and Family Therapy
College
School of Health and Human Services
First Advisor
Benjamin Witts
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Keywords and Subject Headings
woozles, publications, applied behavior analysis
Abstract
Inaccurate reporting of previous publications may seem innocuous in a publication that exhibits sound theories and results; however, consistent, inaccurate reporting of an original body of work runs the risk of establishing false conclusions. In publications, a woozle is a misguided or misrepresented belief or claim, which, if accumulated, can lead to an inaccurate theory or conclusion. Previous literature in other fields have noted the existence of woozles and their effect. This study was a preliminary investigation into the presence of woozles in current applied behavior analytic publications. The first phase of the study identified 20 experimental research articles from The Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis (JABA) and 25-75 citing research articles. Phase two consisted of examining articles and extracting relevant quotations. In the final phase of the study, quotations from applied behavior analytic (ABA) journals were examined to determine the presence of woozles. Results from 242 ABA articles indicated more than 30% of articles and 20% of quotations were woozles, and the presence of woozles in the past ten publishing years exhibited an unclear trend. Data collected indicates that woozles are present in ABA literature, and further research is warranted to examine this topic further.
Recommended Citation
Hiley, Vanessa R., "A Preliminary Investigation into the Presence of Woozles in Applied Behavior-Analytic Publications" (2021). Culminating Projects in Community Psychology, Counseling and Family Therapy. 85.
https://repository.stcloudstate.edu/cpcf_etds/85
