Which statement best describes replication in psychology?

• A. It repeats a study to verify findings, ensuring reliability and generalizability.
• B. It increases novelty of findings.
• C. It reduces the need for control groups.
• D. It ensures the same participants are used.

Answer: (A)

Replication in psychology means repeating a study to see if the same findings emerge. This checks reliability—whether results are consistent when the study is conducted again—and generalizability, showing that the findings apply beyond the original sample and setting. When a result appears in multiple replications, it increases confidence that it wasn’t just a fluke and that the effect is robust across different people and contexts. It’s not about making findings more novel or about always using the same participants; in fact, replications often use new samples to test whether the result holds more broadly. It also doesn’t remove the need for a control group; proper controls remain part of the study design to ensure observed effects are due to the manipulated variables.