ERIC Number: ED600638
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2018-Apr
Pages: 72
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: 978-0-9986-6355-5
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
The Irreproducibility Crisis of Modern Science: Causes, Consequences, and the Road to Reform
Randall, David; Welser, Christopher
National Association of Scholars
A reproducibility crisis afflicts a wide range of scientific and social-scientific disciplines, from epidemiology to social psychology. Improper research techniques, lack of accountability, disciplinary and political groupthink, and a scientific culture biased toward producing positive results together have produced a critical state of affairs. Many supposedly scientific results cannot be reproduced reliably in subsequent investigations, and offer no trustworthy insight into the way the world works. Subsequent evidence confirmed that the crisis of reproducibility had compromised entire disciplines. In 2012 the biotechnology firm Amgen tried to reproduce 53 "landmark" studies in hematology and oncology, but could only replicate six. In that same year the director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research at the Food and Drug Administration estimated that up to three-quarters of published biomarker associations could not be replicated. A 2015 article in "Science" that presented the results of 100 replication studies of articles published in prominent psychological journals found that only 36% of the replication studies produced statistically significant results, compared with 97% of the original studies. In this book, the National Association of Scholars proposes a list of 40 specific reforms that address all levels of the reproducibility crisis. These suggested reforms are not comprehensive--although they believe they are more comprehensive than any previous set of recommendations. Some of these reforms have been proposed before; others are new. Some will elicit broad assent from the scientific community; they expect others to arouse fierce disagreement. Some are meant to provoke constructive critique.
Descriptors: Scientific Methodology, Replication (Evaluation), Scientific Research, Guidelines, Evidence Based Practice, Statistical Significance, Standards, Information Dissemination, Data Collection, Science Education, Best Practices, Universities, School Policy, Professional Associations, Journal Articles, Periodicals, Peer Evaluation, Private Financial Support, Federal Aid, Federal Legislation, State Legislation, Bayesian Statistics, Statistical Inference, Professionalism
National Association of Scholars. 221 Witherspoon Street 2nd Floor, Princeton, NJ 08542-3215. Tel: 609-683-7878; e-mail: nasonweb@nas.org; Web site: http://www.nas.org/
Publication Type: Books; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: National Association of Scholars (NAS)
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A