Describe how partial replications can be used to establish both experimental reliability and the external validity of research findings.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

A partial replication involves changing some but not all of the original experiment. For instance, if an independent variable was shown to have an effect in an experiment testing only men, then a useful partial replication of this experiment would include the dimension of gender. In the partial replication both men and women would be tested while replicating all other conditions of the initial experiment. Reliability can be demonstrated in partial replications when the same effect of the independent variable is obtained across the two experiments (e.g., the independent variable has the same effect for men in both studies). Partial replications help to establish external validity by showing that a similar result occurs when slightly different experimental procedures are used, for example, with different participants and in a different setting. When similar results are obtained, we can say that the findings generalize across the participants (e.g., men and women) and setting.