Another example of detecting fraudulent research using open data

Simonsohn also took a closer look at another study with data that looked too good to be true. In 2011, Dirk Smeesters published an article in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology that indicated that priming subjects with instructions presented in different colored folders leads to their acquiescence of stereotypical behavior. As in Lawrence Sanna’s case, Smeesters’s data seemed to have too little variance to be true. Simonsohn’s study led Erasmus University (where Smeester’s worked) in Rotterdam to begin an investigation that ultimately led to his resignation. In this video I discuss how Simonsohn uncovered this fraud, as well as some advice he has for researchers interested in performing similar analyses.