Reproducibility

Reproducibility measures how well an experiment can be repeated by a different person in different conditions (e.g. a different lab).

Example of repeatability

For example, let’s say we want to measure the boiling point of a substance. We set up our apparatus and measure the temperature at which the water boils. Two different people do the experiment in two different environments. The results were:

• Experiment 1: 109.2°C
• Experiment 2: 102.4°C (done by a different person)

These results are not reproducible, because they vary a lot depending on which conditions the experiment was done under.

Repeatability vs reproducibility

• Reproducibility measures: if someone else does the same experiment under different conditions (e.g. different lab, different equipment), do they get similar results? (different conditions)
• Repeatability measures: if we do the same experiment multiple times under the same conditions, do we get similar results doing it ourselves?

See more about repeatability here.