Hostname: page-component-89b8bd64d-x2lbr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-05-10T09:39:27.899Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Science with or without statistics: Discover-generalize-replicate? Discover-replicate-generalize?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 February 2022

John P.A. Ioannidis*
Affiliation:
Meta-Research Innovation Center at Stanford (METRICS), Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA. jioannid@stanford.edu

Abstract

Overstated generalizability (external validity) is common in research. It may coexist with inflation of the magnitude and statistical support for effects and dismissal of internal validity problems. Generalizability may be secured before attempting replication of proposed discoveries or replication may precede efforts to generalize. These opposite approaches may decrease or increase, respectively, the use of inferential statistics with advantages and disadvantages.

Information

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable