Software

Reference Management and Note-Taking

Zotero

For citations. Should be taught in first-year undergrad.

Obsidian

For notes. Should be taught in first-year undergrad.

Manuscript Preparation

Word

The de facto standard for writing papers with colleagues.

Google Docs

I have a love-hate with Google Docs.
I love the connectivity, but I dislike the interface and find it less enjoyable to use than Word. I will accept it if someone else is leading the project, but it is not my first choice.

Data Collection

Qualtrics

I really like Qualtrics for surveys. I learned quite a bit of complex stuff on there and my surveys are really slick now.
I've also used Qualtrics qualitative data tagging and that was okay; better than trying to do it in Excel.

Statistical Analysis

R

I use R for all statistical analyses.

• R can run multilevel regressions or structured equation modelling (SEM) or factor analysis or any other statistical modelling I am likely to require.
• I also do all data-cleaning in R, which makes my entire analysis pipeline reproducible via scripts.
• I also make figures in R. It took a little time to learn ggplot2, but now I can make very pretty plots. With the advent of LLM technology, using R and plotting in ggplot2 is even easier.

I used to use RStudio and still consider it a fantastic option.
I now use an R plugin for the JetBrains PyCharm Integrated Development Environment.

Python

I use Python for writing the software that implements experimental tasks.

Unfortunately, installation and package-management in Python is non-trivial.
PsychoPy presents an alternative often used in psychology, but I find it counter-intuitive because I have a programming background by training.
Anaconda is another Python distribution, though I found it bloated and updates sometimes broke functionality.

My current Python solution is to use the JetBrains PyCharm Integrated Development Environment, which also supports an R plugin.

Excel

I have a love-hate with Excel.

I love Excel in my personal life, but I don't use Excel in my research life.
Excel breaks things with its weird date and data formatting. It changes data types and that can break scripts and even result in lost data, e.g. if an entry in a .csv file is converted to an Excel "date" when it wasn't actually a date.

SPSS

I strongly prefer R over SPSS.
I think we are doing a disservice to more advanced undergraduate students by failing to teach them R or Python. That said, I understand that doing so would be much more challenging than teaching students the SPSS Graphical User Interface (GUI). Even so, it concerns me when students become over-reliant on the SPSS GUI rather than learning the underlying statistical methods as well as they could. Additionally, compared to R scripts, SPSS tends to be less easily reproduced because of its GUI (though SPSS scripting options do exist).

Other Software

Adobe Illustrator

Total overkill for psychology, but I use it for making complex diagrams.
Simple box-diagrams can be done in PowerPoint, but I can do fancier stuff in Illustrator.
I like learning graphic design tools and fundamentals and this has been a side-passion since high-school.

Adobe InDesign

Adobe InDesign is layout software. I use it to make my preprints look fancy.
Nobody in psych needs this and I don't recommend learning it. Again, it is a side-passion for me.

MatLab

I dislike MatLab.
I had to use MatLab ages ago for EEG analyses, but I don't find it very intuitive.

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