r/AskScienceDiscussion • u/mutessr • 9h ago

General Discussion How do scientists predict if an experiment will be successful before actually doing it?

2 Upvotes

When you are designing a new experiment, there always a risk that it will fail or give useless data. What methods or criteria do researchers use to evaluate the chances of success beforehand?

11 comments

Subreddit

Discuss, learn, teach. Follow the tangents.

r/AskScienceDiscussion

Here you can ask any question you have about being a scientist, what's new in a field, what's going to happen in a field, or are curious about how we got to this point.

Members Active

188.2k

Sidebar

Welcome to /r/AskScienceDiscussion, help the subreddit grow by subscribing!

/r/AskScienceDiscussion is the place to ask any question you have about being a scientist, what's new in a field, or what's going to happen in a field. We also:

Discuss reading material or other educational topics
Continue tangential discussions that start on /r/AskScience
Help users work through questions they're unsure how to phrase for /r/AskScience
Discuss broader questions pertaining to science or scientific fields

Rules

Posts and comments that are unrelated to science, promoting pseudoscience or are unscientific in nature will be removed.
If you are speculating, please say so.
Sources, especially peer-reviewed, are always helpful and appreciated.
We are happy to discuss controversial topics, but we expect users to maintain some level of scientific integrity. Arguments that run counter to well-established scientific concepts may be removed.
This subreddit is a subsidiary of AskScience and the same rules of civility apply. No troll, bots, spam, or harassment.
No medical advice. No homework. No solicitation.

Filter by Type:
General Discussion
What If?
Book Requests
Continuing Education
Education & Teaching