Just in case you want to play before we look at it in class, or follow-up after class.
The Rules of Replication By Kerry Grens
http://www.the-scientist.com//?articles.view/articleNo/41265/title/The-Rules-of-Replication/Q: What should happen if a team can't reproduce another researcher's results?
Like Daniel Kahneman proposed in the article, there should really be a form of etiquette associated with reproducibility. The original lab could be contacted and informed of the current lab's attempts to reproduce the results of the first experiment. This will prevent toes from being stepped on and professional pride from being insulted. If different results are achieved or the reproduced experiment is of importance, then the reproducibility article should seek to get published. Like all good science, the reproducibility article should be subject to peer review, however, and this should be done by both the original experimenter and a substantial number of new groups. This allows science to be self-correcting and preserves the overall objectivity of science.
ReplyDeleteI agree, peer review is definitely a good thing and I think that an outside group should be involved in the case of the publication of false results.
DeleteTo me the first step when the results cannot be reproduced is to attempt to reach the original testers. They may have done something slightly different that results in you not getting the same results. Their information could be completely accurate but once you make it known that you are not getting the same results, that could tremendously hurt the credibility of the original researchers.The next thing would be to have someone else do the same test and see how their results compare. If the results do not match up then something went wrong in the original experiment. This is what is great about science. Science is always taking steps to solidify the information the have more and more while also searching for unknown information.
ReplyDeleteAs we learned today some researchers alter their work on purpose so as to not tip them off we should not consult them first.
DeleteIf the research can not be replicated then the people who regulate false research should send their team of professionals to the lab to try this experiment themselves just to make sure that neither group of scientists are publishing false reports or accusations as to undermine one another.
ReplyDelete