Bayesian versus Frequentist approaches in Psychometrics: a bibliometric analysis

The increasing popularity of the Bayesian approach in Psychology has prompted metascientific efforts to quantify its prevalence. However, despite enduring debates between proponents of Frequentist and Bayesian schools of thought, no systematic comparison of their prominence has been conducted in exi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inDiscover psychology Vol. 4; no. 1; pp. 61 - 6
Main Authors Zagaria, Andrea, Lombardi, Luigi
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Cham Springer International Publishing 29.05.2024
Springer Nature B.V
Springer
Subjects
Bayesian method
Behavioral Science and Psychology
Behavioral Sciences
Bibliometrics
Consent
Economics
Educational Psychology
Frequentist approach
Game Theory
History of psychology
Investigations
Keywords
Mathematical psychology
Mathematics
Perspective
Psycholinguistics
Psychological subfields
Psychology
Quantitative psychology
Scientometrics
Social and Behav. Sciences
Trends
Trends in psychology
Scientometrics
Publishing trends
Bibliometry
Bayesian method
Psychological subfields
History of psychology
Trends in psychology
Frequentist approach
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Summary:The increasing popularity of the Bayesian approach in Psychology has prompted metascientific efforts to quantify its prevalence. However, despite enduring debates between proponents of Frequentist and Bayesian schools of thought, no systematic comparison of their prominence has been conducted in existing literature. This brief report fills this gap, examining Bayesian and Frequentist trends in the period from 1964 to 2023 through a meticulous search in PsycINFO. The findings reveal that the Frequentist approach has consistently been more popular than the Bayesian approach in the realm of Psychometrics and Statistical Psychology. However, Bayesian contributions steadily increased from the 80’s onward and appear to be almost as important or even surpassing the Frequentist counterparts in the latest years investigated (2019–2023). Although this observation applies primarily to specialized literature rather than the entire domain of Psychology, it underscores the growing prevalence of the Bayesian approach, signaling attention among specialists in the field.
ISSN:2731-4537
2731-4537
DOI:10.1007/s44202-024-00164-z