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Replication is already mainstream: Lessons from small-N designs

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 July 2018

Daniel R. Little
Affiliation:
Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia. [email protected]@unimelb.edu.auhttp://psychologicalsciences.unimelb.edu.au/research/research-groups/knowlab
Philip L. Smith
Affiliation:
Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia. [email protected]@unimelb.edu.auhttp://psychologicalsciences.unimelb.edu.au/research/research-groups/knowlab

Abstract

Replication is already mainstream in areas of psychology that use small-N designs. Replication failures often result from weak theory, weak measurement, and weak control over error variance. These are hallmarks of phenomenon-based research with sparse data. Small-N designs, which focus on understanding processes, treat the individual rather than the experiment as the unit of replication and largely circumvent these problems.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

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