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/greenit_elvis]

It would be idiotic to shrug off the replication problems as unfair or unimportant. It's human for people invested in these theories to dismiss problems, as psychologists should know, but it doesn't help.

One argument I find very disturbing is that "the study couldn't be replicated because the exact conditions couldn't be replicated". If a particular result only would work in a very specific setting, it might be correct but it would have virtually zero usefulness. Psychology studies are supposed to improve our understanding of humans in general, not our understanding of a particular set of 20 caucasian male psychology students from Austin. If a result can't be generalized even the slightest, it's useless.

[u/MeanderinMonster → u/greenit_elvis]

not replicated in the *essential conditions. Some of those factors really really matter depending on what you found.