Methods and measures

This note collects recurring methodological ideas, measures, datasets, and analysis patterns that may be useful across projects.

Research designs

• Online experiments
• Longitudinal intervention studies
• Survey experiments
• Secondary data analysis
• Multiverse and robustness analyses
• Dream diaries and dream-content coding
• Open materials, code, and data where possible

Constructs

• Affective polarization
• Shared social identity
• Empathy and compassion
• Prosocial motivation
• Self-concept and self-transformation
• Mindfulness, loving-kindness, and contemplative practice
• Self-control and low-control states
• Internalization and autonomous motivation

Dream methods

Dream diary projects need especially careful attention to recall instructions, minimum report length, coding reliability, participant burden, and incentives. Dream behavior should be interpreted as exploratory evidence about automatic tendencies, not as direct moral evidence about the person.

See dream-behavior-and-waking-behavior and dreams-as-low-control-observation.

Analysis workflow

Analyses should be reproducible, readable, and easy to rerun. When possible, projects should use clear R scripts, transparent data cleaning steps, preregistered models, and sensitivity checks.