The biologist's results, though preliminary, look robust. The pattern emerged in three independent populations and survived every reasonable statistical control her reviewers could devise.
As used in the text, what does the word "robust" most nearly mean?
- A
vigorously argued
- B
full-bodied in flavor
- Ccheck_circle
reliably holding up
- D
physically strong
Explanation
The pattern survives multiple controls and replications; "robust" means reliably holding up under scrutiny, not the physical, flavor, or rhetorical senses.