Hadi Samadi in Conversation with Sedanet: On the Replication Crisis in Science

Over the past decade, science has faced a crisis that has challenged its credibility; a crisis known as the "replication crisis." According to it, when we attempt to repeat prominent experiments published in many articles of the most famous scientific journals, the research results are not replicated. For example, in one study, 100 famous articles in three renowned psychology journals were selected, and an attempt was made to replicate the experiments, as much as possible, under the conditions claimed in the articles. In the end, the initial results were obtained in only 35 articles, and even in those cases, the observed effect was smaller than the effects claimed in the articles. Thus, we are witnessing a fundamental crisis in the empirical sciences, especially in sciences that deal with statistical tests.

Five causes can be introduced as proposed causes of the crisis. In this discourse, while introducing these causes, we will see that the most important cause of the replication crisis must be sought in the social conditions of scientific article production, rather than placing the blame on the inefficiency of statistical methods.

The pressures on scientists and researchers to produce ever more articles pave the way not only for negligence but also for data manipulation in various forms. "Open science" and fundamental changes in science policy are a way out of the crisis. Science must be freed from increasing commodification.

In a conversation between Omid Keshmiri and Hadi Samadi - organized by Sedanet - the crisis, its causes, and ways out of it were discussed.

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Watch the conversation video on YouTube

Watch the conversation video on Aparat

Download the audio file of the conversation

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Hadi Samadi's Telegram channel

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