Reproducibility and replicability in spatial science

Michael F. Goodchild

Chapter 31 in Handbook of Spatial Analysis in the Social Sciences, 2022, pp 518-527 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: Reproducibility and replicability have long been cornerstones of the scientific method, especially in the physical sciences and in experimental psychology. Yet recently a disturbing number of results have failed the replicability test, leading to an outburst of writing on technical and practical ways of addressing the problem. Several reasons have been suggested for what appears to be an increasing rate of failure to replicate in contemporary science. Replicability takes on added meaning for research on phenomena that are embedded in space and time, including geographic phenomena and the phenomena studied in the spatial sciences, because of the complications caused by fundamental properties of spatial data, including spatial dependence and spatial heterogeneity. A weakened form of replicability is suggested, as an intermediate option in the longstanding debate between idiographic and nomothetic approaches. Technical tools to enhance reproducibility are discussed, including scripting languages and docking, and suggestions are made for improving the practice of spatial science in this context.

Keywords: Development Studies; Economics and Finance; Environment; Geography; Research Methods; Sociology and Social Policy; Urban and Regional Studies (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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