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Revision as of 12:19, 29 June 2011

Repeatability in science is the capacity to execute an experiment or data collection again and again. For instance, if a scientist claims to be able to achieve Cold Fusion in a styrofoam cup, given the procedures the scientist undertook, other scientists should be able to replicate the same results. If they cannot, then either the procedures given by the claimant are faulty, the experiment results were misunderstood, or it succeeded for other reasons. Without repeatability, the scientific method is incredibly ambiguous about what the conclusions to the data are.

One common misconception about repeatability is that the original phenomenon must be repeated in order to qualify. Such examples are:

  • We must recreate the Big Bang in order to prove it
  • We must directly observe, in one sitting, one "kind" of species evolve into another ("macro evolution")

The repeatability is entirely viable through the individual confirming experiments, such as microwave background radiation for the Big Bang, or new predicted fossils discovered by scientists, such as Tiktaalik roseae. If such an objection about repeatability were true, then the entire field of archaeology would be rendered superfluous.

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