Schank Jeffrey C, Koehnle Thomas J
Department of Psychology and Animal Behavior Graduate Group, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
J Comp Psychol. 2009 Nov;123(4):421-33. doi: 10.1037/a0013579.
Pseudoreplication is one of the most influential methodological issues in ecological and animal behavior research today. At its inception, the idea of pseudoreplication highlighted important concerns about the design and analysis of experiments in ecology. The doctrine purported to provide a unified view of experimental design and analysis, wherein precise criteria could be used to assess manuscripts and research proposals for acceptance or rejection. Few methodological doctrines have had as much impact as pseudoreplication, yet there has been very little critical analysis of it. In this paper, the authors extend the growing criticism of the concept of pseudoreplication. The authors argue that the core ideas behind pseudoreplication are based on a misunderstanding of statistical independence, the nature of control groups in science, and contexts of statistical inference. The authors also highlight how other areas of research have found and responded to similar issues in the design and analysis of experiments through the use of more advanced statistical methods. Ultimately, there are no universal criteria for accepting or rejecting experimental research; all research must be judged on its own merits.
伪重复是当今生态和动物行为研究中最具影响力的方法学问题之一。在其诞生之初，伪重复的概念突出了对生态学实验设计和分析的重要关注。该学说旨在提供一个关于实验设计和分析的统一观点，其中可以使用精确的标准来评估稿件和研究提案是否被接受。很少有方法学学说能像伪重复那样产生如此大的影响，但对它的批判性分析却很少。在本文中，作者扩展了对伪重复概念日益增加的批评。作者认为，伪重复背后的核心思想基于对统计独立性、科学中对照组的性质以及统计推断背景的误解。作者还强调了其他研究领域如何通过使用更先进的统计方法在实验设计和分析中发现并应对类似问题。最终，对于接受或拒绝实验研究没有通用标准；所有研究都必须根据其自身价值来评判。
