Replication and Reproduction

Abstract

Abstract Chapter 23 of Discrepant Results in Mental Health Research describes how research and theory on discrepant results connect to issues at the core of scientific inquiry in the social sciences, namely the replication crisis. Ironically, the discrepant results discussed in this book represent perhaps the most replicable finding in mental health research. Much of the replication crisis literature frames low levels of replication as reflective of a “crisis of confidence” in the results of scholarly inquiry. This chapter describes how research and theory on discrepant results counter the larger discussion surrounding replication in mental health research. The chapter closes with outlining steps researchers can take to probe replication failures across studies and/or failures to reproduce findings within individual studies.