{
  "$schema": "https://terraevidence.com/evidence-record.schema.json",
  "recordId": "EP-PUB-007",
  "version": "1.0",
  "status": {
    "code": "reviewed-for-stated-scope",
    "label": "Reviewed for stated scope",
    "meaning": "Checked for the stated wording, sources, methods, context, limits, and review period; not universally proven."
  },
  "topic": "External validity",
  "title": "A result from one setting is not automatically transferable.",
  "claim": "A result from one soil, climate, crop, treatment, dose, management system, outcome, or time period should not be presented as universally applicable unless broader transfer is supported by compatible evidence.",
  "summary": "A finding may be valid in its original setting without establishing the same result elsewhere. Define the target setting, preserve possible effect modifiers, distinguish direct evidence from extrapolation, and seek compatible multi-site, multi-season, or local validation when broader application matters.",
  "evidenceSupports": [
    "Define the setting or population to which a conclusion is intended to apply. Preserve soil, climate, crop, treatment and dose, management history, outcome, timing, scale, and sampling conditions. Distinguish direct evidence from extrapolation, examine effect modifiers, and use compatible multi-site, multi-season, or local validation when broader application matters."
  ],
  "doesNotEstablish": [
    "Internal validity, statistical significance, or one successful local trial does not automatically establish that an effect will transfer to another setting. Combining unlike sites without examining compatibility can hide important differences. Failure to transfer does not necessarily invalidate the original local result; it may reveal a scope boundary or effect modifier."
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "sourceId": "EP-PUB-007-S1",
      "sourceType": "institutional-guidance",
      "institution": "University of Minnesota Extension",
      "title": "How to do research on your farm",
      "url": "https://extension.umn.edu/farm-research/how-do-research-your-farm",
      "relevance": "Explains that on-farm data represent a subset of conditions and cautions against assuming one experiment is valid for other fields."
    },
    {
      "sourceId": "EP-PUB-007-S2",
      "sourceType": "institutional-guidance",
      "institution": "United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service",
      "title": "Spatial and Temporal Variability",
      "url": "https://www.ars.usda.gov/plains-area/sidney-mt/northern-plains-agricultural-research-laboratory/agricultural-systems-research/asru-docs/spatialtemporal-variability/",
      "relevance": "Describes how soil properties vary within and among fields across space and time and may be influenced by vegetation, management history, and weather."
    },
    {
      "sourceId": "EP-PUB-007-S3",
      "sourceType": "institutional-guidance",
      "institution": "United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service",
      "title": "LTAR Common Experiment",
      "url": "https://ltar.ars.usda.gov/research/commonexperiment",
      "relevance": "Coordinates long-term research across diverse working landscapes, enabling comparison across sites and translation beyond a single local observation."
    }
  ],
  "scope": {
    "reviewedPeriod": "2026-08",
    "applicability": [
      "Evaluating whether soil, plant, garden, and agricultural findings can be applied beyond the settings in which they were observed."
    ],
    "limitations": [
      "Does not provide a universal formula for deciding transferability; relevant effect modifiers depend on the question, system, treatment, outcome, and decision.",
      "Does not invalidate a locally supported result when it fails elsewhere and does not provide personalized fertilizer, lime, amendment, crop, environmental, pest-control, or safety recommendations."
    ],
    "openQuestion": "Which soil, climate, crop, treatment, management, and time variables most strongly determine whether a result transfers to a new setting?"
  },
  "useBoundary": "This reviewed record supports careful reasoning about external validity and transferability. It does not establish that a treatment or finding will apply in a particular new location and does not provide personalized fertilizer, lime, amendment, crop, environmental, pest-control, or safety recommendations. Preserve the original setting and distinguish direct evidence from extrapolation; seek compatible local or multi-setting evidence and qualified guidance when a consequential decision requires it.",
  "humanReadableUrl": "https://terraevidence.com/earth-project-reviewed-foundations#ep-pub-007",
  "machineReadableUrl": "https://terraevidence.com/evidence-records/ep-pub-007.json",
  "revision": {
    "version": "1.0",
    "publishedDate": "2026-08-17",
    "lastReviewedPeriod": "2026-08"
  }
}