2016 · 18 citations · 2 references
EducationScience EducationExperimental DesignNature Of ScienceScience InstructionScientific InquiryScientific KnowledgeExperimental ReplicabilityReplicabilityReplication StudiesReplicative Experiment DesignScientific Inquiry Understanding
The principle of is the cornerstone of scientific inquiry. This principle holds that under similar conditions one should obtain similar Replication has long been an essential aspect of research in the natural sciences, where research find ings are not published until their re peatability has been demonstrated. In the natural sciences, the investigator may repeat his experiment 10 or 20 times, cross-comparing all results, prior to publishing his findings. It is instructive to note that the physical scientist, dealing with in organic subject matter, tends to talk about repeating his experiment. The term replication is preferred by sci entists studying organic subject mat ter, with the implication that condi tions cannot possibly be exactly the same when the experiment is repeated. The term seems to have been intro duced into our lexicon by specialists in agricultural research. For example, the sixth definition in Webster's Sec ond International Dictionary, un abridged, reads as follows:
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