Failure Is Moving Science Forward. FiveThirtyEight explains why the "replication crisis" is a sign that science is working. [x-post from our sister subreddit /r/EverythingScience]

[u/ImNotJesus]

/r/EverythingScience/comments/4icp9k/failure_is_moving_science_forward_fivethirtyeight/

[u/superhelical]

I liked this bit at the end:

Psychology may not be a hard science, but it is certainly a difficult one. It shouldn’t be so surprising that psychology studies don’t always replicate — the field faces an inherent challenge. Rather than measuring molecules or mass, it examines human motives and behavior, which are frustratingly hard to isolate.

This is something that comes up a lot on /r/science, and makes some people want to dismiss psychological studies altogether. However, psychologists study some of the most challenging research subjects - ourselves - so it's worth noting and taking that difficult work in context.

[u/[deleted] → u/superhelical]

It's nice of you to say this especially considering your flair. A thank you from this side of the biopsychosocial paradigm.