Question

A pharmaceutical company claimed that experiments showed that its drug could effectively reduce the growth of cancer cells by 35 percent. However, when five independent laboratories conducted the same experiment, they measured a reduction rate of only 5–8 percent.

How did these laboratories show that the pharmaceutical company’s claims were invalid?

The labs used the pharmaceutical company’s inadequate data.
The labs produced false data.
The labs recorded data incorrectly.
The labs were unable to reproduce the pharmaceutical company’s data.

Answer 1

The labs were unable to reproduce the pharmaceutical company’s data

An important characteristic of scientific experiments is that their results can be replicated. In this case, assuming that the laboratories followed the same procedure as the pharmaceutical company, the fact that the data could not be replicated means that the company's claims are invalid. The validity of the claims is more questionable given the huge difference in the final conclusions, with the company reporting a 35% decrease, while the maximum decrease observed by the labs was 8%.

Answer 2

The labs were unable to reproduce the .......