The precision of the method or process under the same operating conditions over a brief period of time. The variation because of different operators using the same equipment. This often signals a need for improved training and more consistent procedures.
Reproducibility, closely related to replicability and repeatability, is a major principle underpinning the scientific method. For the findings of a study to be reproducible means that results obtained by an experiment or an observational study or in a statistical analysis of a data set should be achieved again with a high degree of reliability when the study is replicated. There are different kinds of replication but typically replication studies involve different researchers using the same methodology. Only after one or several such successful replications should a result be recognized as scientific knowledge.
English
Pronunciation
Noun
reproducibility (countable and uncountable, plural reproducibilities)
- The quality of being reproducible.
- The closeness of agreement among repeated measurements of a variable made under the same operating conditions over a period of time, or by different people.
- The closeness of agreement among scientific results more generally, at the level of whole experiments, either nearly identical or similar.
Related terms
- replicability (broadly synonymous, although sometimes differentiated in technical subsenses)
- repeatability (broadly synonymous, although sometimes differentiated in technical subsenses)
- replication
