Replication Rate, Framing, and Format Affect Attitudes and Decisions about Science Claims

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Science Communication

Background:

• Evaluating scientific findings is crucial for public trust and policy.
• Understanding how information presentation influences scientific judgment is key.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how replication rates, framing (positive/negative), and numeric format (percentage/natural frequency) affect the evaluation of scientific findings.
• To determine the relative impact of replication information and its presentation on attitudes towards scientific claims.

Main Methods:

• Five experiments were conducted with a total of 2480 participants (undergraduate students and U.S. adults).
• Dependent measures included attitude difference scores and choice.
• Independent variables were replication rate, frame (positive/negative), and numeric format (percentage/natural frequency).

Main Results:

• Positive attitudes towards scientific findings increased with higher replication rates.
• Positive framing of replication information led to more favorable evaluations than negative framing.
• Framing had a larger impact on attitudes than the replication rate itself.
• Natural frequencies attenuated the framing effect compared to percentages in some experiments.

Conclusions:

• The way replication information is framed significantly influences the evaluation of scientific findings, often more than the actual replication rate.
• Positive framing enhances acceptance of scientific results.
• While natural frequencies may slightly reduce framing effects, framing remains a dominant factor.