What Is Replication in Psychology Research?

Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsExamples of Replication in PsychologyWhy Replication MattersHow It WorksWhat If Replication Fails?The Replication CrisisHow Replication Can Be Strengthened

Table of ContentsView All

View All

Table of Contents

Examples of Replication in Psychology

Why Replication Matters

How It Works

What If Replication Fails?

The Replication Crisis

How Replication Can Be Strengthened

Close

Replication refers to the repetition of a research study, generally with different situations and subjects, to determine if the basic findings of the original study can be applied to other participants and circumstances.

In other words, when researchers replicate a study, it means they reproduce the experiment to see if they can obtain the same outcomes.

Once a study has been conducted, researchers might be interested in determining if the results hold true in other settings or for other populations. In other cases, scientists may want to replicate the experiment to further demonstrate the results.

At a GlanceIn psychology, replication is defined as reproducing a study to see if you get the same results. It’s an important part of the research process that strengthens our understanding of human behavior. It’s not always a perfect process, however, and extraneous variables and other factors can interfere with results.

At a Glance

In psychology, replication is defined as reproducing a study to see if you get the same results. It’s an important part of the research process that strengthens our understanding of human behavior. It’s not always a perfect process, however, and extraneous variables and other factors can interfere with results.

For example, imagine that healthpsychologistsperform an experiment showing that hypnosis can be effective in helping middle-aged smokers kick their nicotine habit. Other researchers might want to replicate the same study with younger smokers to see if they reach the same result.

Exact replication is not always possible. Ethical standards may prevent modern researchers from replicating studies that were conducted in the past, such asStanley Milgram’s infamous obedience experiments.

That doesn’t mean that researchers don’t perform replications; it just means they have to adapt their methods and procedures. For example, researchers have replicated Milgram’s study using lower shock thresholds and improved informed consent and debriefing procedures.

Why Replication Is Important in Psychology

When studies are replicated and achieve the same or similar results as the original study, it gives greater validity to the findings. If a researcher can replicate a study’s results, it is more likely that those results can be generalized to the larger population.

Human behavior can be inconsistent and difficult to study. Even when researchers are cautious about their methods, extraneous variables can still create bias and affect results.

That’s why replication is so essential in psychology. It strengthens findings, helps detect potential problems, and improves our understanding of human behavior.

How Do Scientists Replicate an Experiment?

Whenconducting a study or experiment, it is essential to have clearly defined operational definitions. In other words, what is the study attempting to measure?

When replicating earlier researchers, experimenters will follow the same procedures but with a different group of participants.If the researcher obtains the same or similar results in follow-up experiments, it means that the original results are less likely to be a fluke.

The steps involved in replicating a psychology experiment often include the following:

Scientific Method Steps in Psychology Research

So what happens if the original results cannot be reproduced? Does that mean that the experimenters conducted bad research or that, even worse, they lied or fabricated their data?

For example, minor differences in things like the way questions are presented, the weather, or even the time of day the study is conducted might have an unexpected impact on the results of an experiment. Researchers might strive to perfectly reproduce the original study, but variations are expected and often impossible to avoid.

Are the Results of Psychology Experiments Hard to Replicate?

In 2015, a group of 271 researchers published the results of their five-year effort to replicate 100 different experimental studies previously published in three top psychology journals.The replicators worked closely with the original researchers of each study in order to replicate the experiments as closely as possible.

The results were less than stellar. Of the 100 experiments in question, 61% could not be replicated with the original results. Of the original studies, 97% of the findings were deemed statistically significant. Only 36% of the replicated studies were able to obtain statistically significant results.

As one might expect, these dismal findings caused quite a stir. You may have heard this referred to as the “‘replication crisis’ in psychology.

Similar replication attempts have produced similar results. Another study published in 2018 replicated 21 social and behavioral science studies. In these studies, the researchers were only able to successfully reproduce the original results about 62% of the time.

The American Psychological Association suggests that the problem stems partly from the research culture. Academic journals are more likely to publish novel, innovative studies rather than replication research, creating less of an incentive to conduct that type of research.

Reasons Why Research Cannot Be ReplicatedThe project authors suggest that there are three potential reasons why the original findings could not be replicated.The original results were a false positive.The replicated results were a false negative.Both studies were correct but differed due to unknown differences in experimental conditions or methodologies.

Reasons Why Research Cannot Be Replicated

The project authors suggest that there are three potential reasons why the original findings could not be replicated.The original results were a false positive.The replicated results were a false negative.Both studies were correct but differed due to unknown differences in experimental conditions or methodologies.

The project authors suggest that there are three potential reasons why the original findings could not be replicated.

The Nobel Prize-winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman has suggested that because published studies are often too vague in describing methods used, replications should involve the authors of the original studies to more carefully mirror the methods and procedures used in the original research.

In fact, one investigation found that replication rates are much higher when original researchers are involved.

While some might be tempted to look at the results of such replication projects and assume that psychology is more art than science, many suggest that such findings actually help make psychology a stronger science. Human thought and behavior is a remarkably subtle and ever-changing subject to study.

In other words, it’s normal and expected for variations to exist when observing diverse populations and participants.

Some research findings might be wrong, but digging deeper, pointing out the flaws, and designing better experiments helps strengthen the field. The APA notes that replication research represents a great opportunity for students. it can help strengthen research skills and contribute to science in a meaningful way.

7 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Nosek BA, Errington TM.What is replication?PLoS Biol. 2020;18(3):e3000691. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.3000691Burger JM.Replicating Milgram: Would people still obey today?Am Psychol. 2009;64(1):1-11. doi:10.1037/a0010932Makel MC, Plucker JA, Hegarty B.Replications in psychology research: How often do they really occur?Perspectives on Psychological Science. 2012;7(6):537-542. doi:10.1177/1745691612460688Aarts AA, Anderson JE, Anderson CJ, et al.Estimating the reproducibility of psychological science.Science.2015;349(6251). doi:10.1126/science.aac4716Camerer CF, Dreber A, Holzmeister F, et al.Evaluating the replicability of social science experiments in Nature and Science between 2010 and 2015.Nat Hum Behav. 2018;2(9):637-644. doi:10.1038/s41562-018-0399-zAmerican Psychological Association.Learning into the replication crisis: Why you should consider conducting replication research.Kahneman D.A new etiquette for replication.Social Psychology.2014;45(4):310-311.

7 Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Nosek BA, Errington TM.What is replication?PLoS Biol. 2020;18(3):e3000691. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.3000691Burger JM.Replicating Milgram: Would people still obey today?Am Psychol. 2009;64(1):1-11. doi:10.1037/a0010932Makel MC, Plucker JA, Hegarty B.Replications in psychology research: How often do they really occur?Perspectives on Psychological Science. 2012;7(6):537-542. doi:10.1177/1745691612460688Aarts AA, Anderson JE, Anderson CJ, et al.Estimating the reproducibility of psychological science.Science.2015;349(6251). doi:10.1126/science.aac4716Camerer CF, Dreber A, Holzmeister F, et al.Evaluating the replicability of social science experiments in Nature and Science between 2010 and 2015.Nat Hum Behav. 2018;2(9):637-644. doi:10.1038/s41562-018-0399-zAmerican Psychological Association.Learning into the replication crisis: Why you should consider conducting replication research.Kahneman D.A new etiquette for replication.Social Psychology.2014;45(4):310-311.

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Nosek BA, Errington TM.What is replication?PLoS Biol. 2020;18(3):e3000691. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.3000691Burger JM.Replicating Milgram: Would people still obey today?Am Psychol. 2009;64(1):1-11. doi:10.1037/a0010932Makel MC, Plucker JA, Hegarty B.Replications in psychology research: How often do they really occur?Perspectives on Psychological Science. 2012;7(6):537-542. doi:10.1177/1745691612460688Aarts AA, Anderson JE, Anderson CJ, et al.Estimating the reproducibility of psychological science.Science.2015;349(6251). doi:10.1126/science.aac4716Camerer CF, Dreber A, Holzmeister F, et al.Evaluating the replicability of social science experiments in Nature and Science between 2010 and 2015.Nat Hum Behav. 2018;2(9):637-644. doi:10.1038/s41562-018-0399-zAmerican Psychological Association.Learning into the replication crisis: Why you should consider conducting replication research.Kahneman D.A new etiquette for replication.Social Psychology.2014;45(4):310-311.

Nosek BA, Errington TM.What is replication?PLoS Biol. 2020;18(3):e3000691. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.3000691

Burger JM.Replicating Milgram: Would people still obey today?Am Psychol. 2009;64(1):1-11. doi:10.1037/a0010932

Makel MC, Plucker JA, Hegarty B.Replications in psychology research: How often do they really occur?Perspectives on Psychological Science. 2012;7(6):537-542. doi:10.1177/1745691612460688

Aarts AA, Anderson JE, Anderson CJ, et al.Estimating the reproducibility of psychological science.Science.2015;349(6251). doi:10.1126/science.aac4716

Camerer CF, Dreber A, Holzmeister F, et al.Evaluating the replicability of social science experiments in Nature and Science between 2010 and 2015.Nat Hum Behav. 2018;2(9):637-644. doi:10.1038/s41562-018-0399-z

American Psychological Association.Learning into the replication crisis: Why you should consider conducting replication research.

Kahneman D.A new etiquette for replication.Social Psychology.2014;45(4):310-311.

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