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How do we know what we know? That’s where science comes in—it gives us a method for testing our ideas and getting trustworthy results. But some researchers have warned that many scientific studies can’t be replicated.
To find out how deep the problem goes, the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency funded one of the largest analyses of social science, called the SCORE project. They checked the results of thousands of papers across economics, education, and psychology—and found that only half of them could be replicated.
Joining Host Ira Flatow to discuss the findings are Tim Errington, one of the leads on this project, and economist Abel Brodeur, who recently released the results of a separate replication study that found more encouraging results than SCORE did.
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Segment Guests
Abel Brodeur
Dr. Abel Brodeur is a professor of economics at the University of Ottawa and founder of the Institute for Replication.
Tim Errington
Dr. Tim Errington is senior director of research at the Center For Open Science in Washington, D.C.
Segment Transcript
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Meet the Producers and Host
About Ira Flatow
Ira Flatow is the founder and host of Science Friday. His green thumb has revived many an office plant at death’s door.
About Dee Peterschmidt
Dee Peterschmidt is Science Friday’s audio production manager, hosted the podcast Universe of Art, and composes music for Science Friday’s podcasts. Their D&D character is a clumsy bard named Chip Chap Chopman.