Chapter 6: Validity Flashcards
validity
indication of accuracy in terms of the extent to which a research conclusion corresponds with validity
internal validty
extent to which a study provides evidence of CE relationship between the IV and DV (logic of the relationship between variables)
confounding
error that occurs when the effects of two variables in an experiment cannot be separated-biggest threat to validity
subject variable
difference between subjects that cannot be controlled but can only be selected ( ex. gender (gender differences)
construct validity of research
extent to which the results support the theory behind the research
what is the difference between construct validity of measurement and construct validity of research
measurement: measures what is intended and nothing else
research: results support the theory behind research-can you generalize from specific operations of experiment to general theoretical construct of population
if the measurement lacks construct, so does the research
What is a manipulation check and why is it used?
aspect of an experiment designed to make certain that variables have changed in the way that was intended (usually IV)
What is the difference between construct and internal volume
construct validity rules out other possible theoretical explanations of the results
internal rules out alt variables as potential causes of the behaviour
external validity
how well the findings of an experiment generalize to other situations or pop
ecological validity
extent to which an experimental situation mimics a real world situation- natural setting
statistical conclusion validity
extent to which data are shown to be the results of cause-effect rather than accident
validity, appropriate sampling, inferential statistics and measurement techniques must be
power
the probability of rejecting the null hypothesis when it is in fact false
effect size
strength of the relationship between the IV and DV
Ambiguous temporal precendence
variables that are related but not clear which is the cause and which is the effect
history
events that occur outside of the experiment that could influence the results of the experiment
maturation
source of error in an experiment related to the amount of time between measurements -longitudinal studies
effects of repeat testing
performance on a second test is influenced by simply having taken a first test -similar to maturation but change is caused by the previous test
regression effect
tendency of subjects with extreme scores on a first measure to score closer to the mean on a second test -errors will average out in second test
random error
part of error that can be attributed to chance
selection
confound that can occur due to assignment of subjects to groups
mortality
the dropping out of some subjects before an experiment is completed causing a threat to validity
What are threats to internal validity
ambiguous temporal precedence
history (outside lab events)
maturation
test-retest
regression effect
selection
mortality
What are the threats to construct validity
loose connection between theory and method
ambiguous effect of IV
ambiguous effect of IV
individuals may experience the IV in different ways
other subjects
can’t assume any animal can’t be substituted
threats to external validity
other subjects
other settings
other times
threat to statistical conclusion validity
power and inaccurate effect size
too few subjects/observations and selection of outliers
role demands
participants expectations of what an experiment entails/requires them to do
good subject tendency
tendency of experimental participants to act according to what they think the experimenter wants
evaluation apprehension
tendency of experimental participants to alter their behaviours to appear SD
how can experimenter bias be reduced
keep the experimenter from knowing the conditions in an experiment or its purpose and standardizing the procedure
how can role demands be reduced
cover stories
control
any means used to rule out threats to the validity of research
