Replication? Open Data? Yes, please!

Abstract

This conference’s focus on open data comes at a time when replication studies are increasingly being recognized as necessary for confirming trends found in original research publications. Successful replications rely on transparency in terms of data and methodology. If a study is well-designed, transparent and open in its description, it can also serve as an excellent tool for beginning researchers to learn about the methodologies and types of data analysis typically used in a field. A study on vocabulary learning, for instance, needs the description of the tests in the published paper to be clear and detailed enough to either re-use the tests without any changes, or allow for the construction of a close equivalent. The example described in this presentation fulfills this requirement and serves to illustrate the core argument that replications can be invaluable tools for teaching as well as strengthening the research findings