Discussion: What Is a Replication?

Machery (2020) has recently proposed a "resampling" account of experimental replication to dissolve a debate in psychology about the relative merits of direct and conceptual replication. We argue that (i) on matters of replication’s function and typology, the resampling account is not substantially different from the functional account of replication extant in the literature; (ii) on what generalizations can be drawn from replications, the resampling account is too restrictive and relies on a misunderstanding of the relation between random sampling and generalizability; and (iii) Machery’s reading of the debate on the relative importance of direct and conceptual replication elides a deeper debate about values and the distribution of research resources in science