Pseudoreplication (source code)

= Pseudoreplication
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<Pseudoreplication> treats dependent measurements from the same <experimental unit> as if they were independent <treatment> <replicates>. It exaggerates the effective <sample size> and commonly makes <standard errors> too small. In the pot example of <replication in experimental design>, counting twelve <leaves> per group as twelve independent <treatment> <replicates> ignores the four containing pots. The <variance of nested measurements> quantifies the resulting understatement of uncertainty. <Nested measurements> themselves are useful; <pseudoreplication> is the error of using them as independent <replicates> for the wrong level of inference.<Pseudoreplication and the Design of Ecological Field Experiments by Stuart H. Hurlbert>[Pseudoreplication and the Design of Ecological Field Experiments, p. 190, definition, and p. 201, “Multiple samples per experimental unit”]{ref}