Submitted by Ok_Elk_4333 t3_zynumu in explainlikeimfive
Moskau50 t1_j26x408 wrote
How do you quantify "x% chance of inaccuracy"? There may be confounding factors that the original research team was unaware of that will only come up when a different research team, working in a different lab with different conditions and similar-but-not-identical equipment tries to replicate the study and finds something different.
A quick and easy one to think of is water quality. The amount of dissolved minerals in the local tap or well water will vary a lot all over the world. Doing the same benchtop, chemistry 101 experiments using tap water from various places will have slightly different results. Of course, labs nowadays have purified water systems, so water quality itself isn't a concern, but there could be other factors like this that can play a role.
Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments