Reflections on the Replication Corner: In Praise of Conceptual Replications

39 Pages Posted: 28 Sep 2015

See all articles by John G. Lynch

John G. Lynch

University of Colorado-Boulder, Leeds School of Business - Center for Research on Consumer Financial Decision Making

Eric Bradlow

University of Pennsylvania - Marketing Department

Joel C. Huber

Duke University - Fuqua School of Business

Donald R. Lehmann

Columbia University - Columbia Business School, Marketing

Date Written: September 12, 2015

Abstract

We contrast the philosophy guiding the Replication Corner at IJRM with replication efforts in psychology. Psychology has promoted ”exact” or “direct” replications, reflecting an interest in statistical conclusion validity of the original findings. Implicitly, this philosophy treats non-replication as evidence that the original finding is not “real” – a conclusion that we believe is unwarranted. In contrasts, we have encouraged “conceptual replications” (replicating at the construct level but with different operationalization) and “replications with extensions”, reflecting our interest in providing evidence on the external validity and generalizability of published findings. In particular, our belief is that this replication philosophy allows for both replication and the creation of new knowledge. We express our views about why we believe our approach is more constructive, and describe lessons learned in the three years we have been involved in editing the IJRM Replication Corner. Of our thirty published conceptual replications, most found results replicating the original findings, sometimes identifying moderators.

Keywords: Direct replication, conceptual replication, replication and extension, external validity

JEL Classification: M30, C91, C92, C93

Suggested Citation

Lynch, John G. and Bradlow, Eric and Huber, Joel C. and Lehmann, Donald R., Reflections on the Replication Corner: In Praise of Conceptual Replications (September 12, 2015). Columbia Business School Research Paper No. 15-88, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2665383 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2665383

John G. Lynch (Contact Author)

University of Colorado-Boulder, Leeds School of Business - Center for Research on Consumer Financial Decision Making ( email )

Leeds School of Business
Boulder, CO 80309-0419
United States
919-971-5201 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://https://www.colorado.edu/business/john-g-lynch-jr

Eric Bradlow

University of Pennsylvania - Marketing Department ( email )

700 Jon M. Huntsman Hall
3730 Walnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6340
United States
215-898-8255 (Phone)

Joel C. Huber

Duke University - Fuqua School of Business ( email )

Box 90120
Durham, NC 27708-0120
United States
919-660-7785 (Phone)

Donald R. Lehmann

Columbia University - Columbia Business School, Marketing ( email )

New York, NY 10027
United States

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