Validity Flashcards
What is internal validity?
Whether the outcome of the experiment is due to the IV and not other factors
What is internal validity influenced by?
- Confounding and Extraneous variables
- Demand characteristics
- Investigator bias
What is external validity?
Relates to factors outside the investigation
- Is it generalisation to other settings/populations
Three forms of external validity
- Ecological validity
- Population
- Historical
What is ecological validity?
Extent to which findings can be generalised to other situations/settings
Mundane realism
How the experiment mirrors the real world
What compromises ecological validity?
Artificial settings (lab)
and artificial tasks
What is population validity?
Refers to the extent to which findings can be generalised to other populations
What compromises population validity?
Small and unrepresentative samples
- EG all one gender, age or culture
What is historical/temporal validity?
The extent to which findings can be generalised to other time periods
How to maximise internal validity?
- Careful research design
- Use blind research
- Control extraneous variables
- Counterbalance
- Independent groups
