What is simulation replication?

Simulation replication refers to the act of running a simulation model multiple times to ensure the reliability and validity of the results. This process is crucial because simulation models often involve random variables and stochastic processes. By performing multiple runs, analysts can gather a distribution of outcomes, which allows them to assess variability and gain a more robust understanding of the model's performance under different scenarios.

Replication helps to identify trends, averages, and potential outliers in the data generated by the simulation. Through this repeated execution, one can determine the statistical significance of the results, which ultimately aids in making informed decisions based on the simulation outcomes. This practice ensures that the findings are not merely due to randomness but represent a reliable picture of the modeled system.

In contrast to this option, simplifying a simulation model, standardizing input data, or visualizing outcomes, while important in their own rights, do not capture the essence of replication, which focuses specifically on the frequency of running the model to establish reliability.