Peer reviewed research

1. Third, we would run lots and lots of trials.
2. Fourth, we would use statistical techniques to test our predictions about what it is that
3. we are studying. We don't just focus on those outcomes that support our predictions, we
4. look at all of the outcomes and use statistics to tell us whether any differences we observe
5. are likely to be due to chance alone or some other factor.
6. We then publicly report our methods and results after peer review so that other researchers
7. can critically analyse what we’ve done, in order to identify any flaws or alternative
8. explanations for our findings.
9. And then, ideally, we'd repeat the whole process lots of times under different contexts and
10. with different researchers. This is called replication.
11. Fundamentally, the scientific method is a much more reliable way of determining what’s
12. likely to be true about the world than relying on our own experiences, anecdotal evidence,
13. and the like.