Stepping in the Same River Twice: Replication in Biological Research
Ayelet Shavit and Aaron M Ellison
Abstract
This book explores the critically important process of replication in biological and biomedical research. Without replication, the trustworthiness of scientific research remains in doubt. Although replication is increasingly recognized as a central problem in many scientific disciplines, repeating the same scientific observations of experiments or reproducing the same set of analyses from existing data is remarkably difficult. This book addresses challenges and solutions for valid replication of research in medicine, ecology, natural history, agriculture, physiology, and computer science. Afte ... More
This book explores the critically important process of replication in biological and biomedical research. Without replication, the trustworthiness of scientific research remains in doubt. Although replication is increasingly recognized as a central problem in many scientific disciplines, repeating the same scientific observations of experiments or reproducing the same set of analyses from existing data is remarkably difficult. This book addresses challenges and solutions for valid replication of research in medicine, ecology, natural history, agriculture, physiology, and computer science. After the introduction to important concepts and historical background, the book offers paired chapters that provide theoretical overviews followed by detailed case studies. These studies range widely in topics, from infectious diseases and environmental monitoring to museum collections, meta-analysis, bioinformatics, and more. The closing chapters explicate and quantify problems in the case studies, and the volume concludes with important recommendations for best practices.
Keywords:
replication,
biological research,
biomedical research,
medicine,
ecology,
natural history,
agriculture,
physiology,
computer science,
validity
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2017 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780300209549 |
| Published to Yale Scholarship Online: September 2017 |
DOI:10.12987/yale/9780300209549.001.0001 |
Authors
Affiliations are at time of print publication.
Ayelet Shavit, editor
Tel Hai College
Aaron M Ellison, editor
Harvard University
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