Chapter_8_The External Validity of Research

Question 1

External Validity

Answer 1

Research findings represent general principles of behavior that apply under a wide-ranging set of conditions

Question 2

Aspects of External Validity

Answer 2

1. Generalizability
2. Ecological validity

Question 3

Generalizability

Answer 3

Generalize across
- General principles of behavior and in theories that will apply across populations, settings, or operational definitions

Question 4

Ecological Validity

Answer 4

Generalize to
- the degree to which the methods, materials, and procedures used in a study mimic the conditions of the natural setting to which they are to be applied

Question 5

Components of External Validity

Answer 5

1. Structural Component
2. Functional Component
3. Conceptual Component

Question 6

Structural Component

Answer 6

METHODOLOGY
- setting
- participants
- procedures
- time
- culture

Question 7

Boundary Conditions

Answer 7

When a principle does not operate as expected under a particular set of circumstances

Question 8

Structural Component in Applied Researchers

Answer 8

A result can be replicated in a particular natural setting, using the procedures and people in that setting

Question 9

Reactivity as Setting

Answer 9

people’s tendency to change their behavior when they know they are under observation

Question 10

Experimental Realism

Answer 10

independent variable is manipulated in an engaging manner, participants can become so psychologically involved in the situation that they give realistic responses

Question 11

Setting Factors

Answer 11

1. Physical Setting
2. Reactivity
3. Researcher Attributes
4. Coparticipant Attributes
5. Ecological Validity

Question 12

Participant Sample Factors

Answer 12

1. Convenience Sampling
2. Restricted Sampling
3. Volunteer Participants

Question 13

Convenience Sampling

Answer 13

Participants are chosen on the basis of availability rather than on the basis of representativeness of the population
- Crowdsourcing

Question 14

Restricted Sampling

Answer 14

participant samples are restricted to one category of persons
- WEIRD

Question 15

Volunteer Participants

Answer 15

Volunteer differ from people who choose not to participate
- higher in need of social approval
- more sociable
- more excitement seeking
- more conventional
- more religious
- more self-­ disclosing
- less authoritarian

Question 16

Person-By-Situation Interactions

Answer 16

Characteristics of volunteer participants might interact with an independent variable to affect the results of an experiment
- ERP right-handed participants

Question 17

Ecological Validity

Answer 17

demographic, personality, and interest profiles as alike as possible to those of members of the natural setting

Question 18

Research Procedure Factors

Answer 18

1. Artificiality
2. Operational definition
3. Ecological validity

Question 19

Artificiality

Answer 19

the setting, tasks, and procedures used in these experiments do not generalize to “real-world”
- short-term tasks
- artificial means of communication between participants
- situations that would never happen in everyday life
- measures are often assessed in ways that are highly artificial
- The dependent variable assessed e.g. physiological measures

Question 20

Operational Definitions

Answer 20

Vary
- Solution: multiple operational definitions and latent variable analysis

Question 21

Cultural Factors

Answer 21

• Western cultures vs. non-Western cultures
• individualistic cultures vs. collectivist cultures

Question 22

Time Factors

Answer 22

1. Time Sampling
2. Changes Over Time

Question 23

Time Sampling

Answer 23

• Some behaviors are cyclic, their frequency rising and falling at regular intervals
• amount of time required for an independent variable to have an effect

Question 24

Changes Over Time

Answer 24

Beliefs and behaviors change over time
1. physical attractiveness
2. sexual mores
3. gender roles

Question 25

The Functional Component of External Validity

Answer 25

psychological processes that operate in a study are similar to the psychological processes at work in a particular natural setting

Question 26

Functional Component

Answer 26

The PSYCHOLOGICAL PROCESSES that operate in a study are similar to the psychological processes at work in a particular natural setting

Question 27

Conceptual Component

Answer 27

RESEARCH QUESTION The problems studied in research correspond to problems considered important in a natural setting - Researchers vs. administrators

Question 28

2 types of variable that policy makers want

Answer 28

1. Independent variables which they have control and so can change - estimator variables: variables that can be manipulated in the laboratory 2. the utility of the dependent variables used - variables/behaviors that they are interested

Question 29

Interdependence among External Validity Components

Question 30

Chronic manipulations

Answer 30

Are found in natural situations and that often result from an - accumulation of small effects over time - have been experienced for some time - are expected to continue into the future - e.g. anxiety, self-esteem, and stress

Question 31

Acute manipulations

Answer 31

Result from a - single event - occur relatively suddenly - end with the research situation - lack structural validity because of their time-limited nature

Question 32

Assessing External Validity

Answer 32

external validity is therefore a characteristic of a set of findings or of a theory, not of an individual study

Question 33

Assessing Generalizability

Answer 33

1. conducting multiple tests of a hypothesis - determine the boundary conditions - generate and test new hypotheses concerning the rules governing those conditions 2. interaction effect in a factorial design - Include generalization factors, such as gender or age

Question 34

Assessing Ecological Validity

Answer 34

the degree to which the research exhibits conceptual, functional, and structural similarity to the natural setting 1. conceptual level - policy relevant independent variables - utility of the dependent variables 2. functional level - psychological processes are similar in the natural setting 3. structural level - naturalism of the manipulations or measures, population, and setting

Question 35

Laboratory Research

Answer 35

more conducive to achieving some goals - testing causal hypotheses - falsifying theoretical propositions - dissecting complex phenomena - discovering new phenomena

Question 36

Ecological Validity as an Empirical Question

Answer 36

the question of whether a finding can be applied to a specific setting or population is testable - it can be tested between field and lab research