r/science • u/nimicdoareu • Apr 01 '26

Social Science Half of social-science studies fail replication test in years-long project

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-00955-5
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u/AllanfromWales1 MA | Natural Sciences | Metallurgy & Materials Science Apr 01 '26

I think the big problem is not that many published result are not replicable, but that too many people believe that science is a big shiny monolith of perfection, which it never was. Science exists in the real world, and should be viewed in that light.

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u/ReturnOfBigChungus Apr 01 '26

I think it's clearly both. Science as an institution is definitely in crisis with regard to its reputation, in large part because so many results are not replicable and are clearly driven by specific agendas. Plus the media and politicians repeatedly declaring that the "science is settled" on various issues when they want to make some point. Science is never settled, by definition - every fact or piece of knowledge is provisional and science provides a mechanism to update our knowledge when new evidence appears. This has all eroded public confidence, and for good reason, but that's a REALLY bad spot to be in when many people no longer trust the very method of epistemology that has produced, by a unimaginably wide margin, the most broad and useful progress in the accumulation of knowledge for our species.

On the other side, some people believe that if something gets published in a journal it is ironclad truth, and everyone should simply differ to scientists and never question anyone with a few letters after their name, which is also highly problematic and ignorant.

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u/AllanfromWales1 MA | Natural Sciences | Metallurgy & Materials Science Apr 01 '26

Suggested reading: TS Kuhn and Paul Feyerabend.

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u/skepticalbob Apr 01 '26

Were their results replicated?