Rethinking and Updating Demographic Questions: Guidance to Improve Descriptions of Research Samples

Abstract

is the International Honor So ci ety in Psychology, found ed in 1929. Its mission: "recognizing and promoting excellence in the science and application of psy chol ogy." (Note. Our new mission statement is available at http://www.psichi.org/?page=purpose) Mem ber ship is open to undergraduates, graduate students, faculty, and alumni mak ing the study of psy chol ogy one of their major interests and who meet Psi Chi's min i mum qual i fi ca tions. Psi Chi is a member of the As so cia tion of Col lege Honor So ci et ies (ACHS), and is an affiliate of the Ameri can Psy cho logi cal As so cia tion (APA) and the Association for Psy cho log i cal Science (APS). Psi Chi's sister honor society is Psi Beta, the na tion al honor society in psychology for com mu nity and junior colleges. Psi Chi functions as a federation of chap ters located at over 1,100 senior col leg es and universities around the world. The Psi Chi Central Office is lo cat ed in Chatta nooga, Ten nessee. A Board of Directors, com posed of psy chol o gy faculty who are Psi Chi members and who are elect ed by the chapters, guides the affairs of the Or ga ni za tion and sets pol i cy with the ap prov al of the chap ters. Psi Chi membership provides two major opportunities. The first of these is ac a dem ic rec og ni tion to all in duc tees by the mere fact of mem ber ship. The sec ond is the opportunity of each of the Society's local chapters to nourish and stim u late the pro fes sion al growth of all members through fellowship and activities de signed to augment and en hance the reg u lar cur ric u lum. In addition, the Or ga ni za tion provides programs to help achieve these goals including con ven tions, research awards and grants competitions, and publication opportunities. JOURNAL PURPOSE STATEMENT The twofold purpose of the Psi Chi Journal of Psychological Research is to foster and reward the scholarly efforts of psychology students as well as to provide them with a valuable learning experience. The articles pub lished in the Journal represent the work of under graduates, graduate students, and faculty. To further support authors and enhance Journal visibility, articles are now available in the PsycINFO ® and EBSCO Academic Search Complete ® databases. In 2016, the Journal also became open access (i.e., free online to all readers and authors) to broaden the dissemination of research across the psychological science com munity.

Baseline cultural competence in physician assistant students

“…Students were 22 to 50 years of age ( M = 28.71, SD = 5.67). Although an inclusive item asked about gender identity broadly [23], all participants identified as cisgender and predominantly female ( n = 119, 58.3%). Students were married ( n = 91, 44.6%), single ( n = 61, 29.9%), in a committed relationship ( n = 43, 21.1%), or cohabiting ( n = 9, 4.4%).…”

The Relationship Between Extraversion and Listening Comprehension Under High- and Low-Salience Visual Distraction Conditions

“…State the number of people or nonhu man animals you collected data from, and include descriptive statistics of important characteristics. If you are working with humans, at a minimum note gender, age, and race/ethnic background (see Hughes, Camden, & Yangchen, 2016, for excellent suggestions regarding the collection and reporting of demographic data). Those of you working with nonhuman animals should include genus, species, and strain number (see Appelbaum et al, 2018, for other important characteristics).…”

School Safety Beyond School Shootings

“…For ethical and professional reasons (i.e., inclusion and advancing diversity) as well as research integrity reasons, it is important to periodically consider the wording of demographic questions and to update historical categories meant to represent participants' identities (Hughes, Camden, & Yangchen, 2016). As such, over the years, the procedures and information collected by Psi Chi has changed many times.…”

“…These changes have been necessary and invaluable in supporting and understanding our diverse members. As Hughes et al (2016) said, "Identity is not simple and asking participants to classify themselves into categories that do not fit them can lead to frustration and uncertainty about how to respond" (p. 138).…”