Bob Reed | On replications, significance testing
Description
- June 25, 2019
- Speaker:
- Topic: On Replications, Significance Testing, Confidence Intervals and p-Values. And Meta-Analysis Too!
Abstract
Replications are widely recognized as crucial for establishing the reliability of scientific findings. In fact, they are not very common. There are some good reasons why replications are relatively rare. One reason is that there is little consensus about what we can learn from a replication. The first part of this talk will discuss some of the difficulties with defining 鈥渞eplication success.鈥 As a practical application, I will relate that discussion to the challenges facing DARPA鈥檚 SCORE (鈥淪ystematizing Confidence in Open Research and Evidence鈥) Project. I will then connect this to a wider discussion of what we can learn from any empirical analysis. This is where I will talk about significance testing, confidence intervals, and p-values. I will then suggest a way forward involving replication and meta-analysis. Given the brief time available, this talk is aimed at providing a broad overview of some key issues related to replication and scientific reliability.