Validity Flashcards
What is validity
the extent to which you measure what you intend to measure
What is internal validity
concerns wether the effects of an experiment are due to the manipulation of the IV and not another factor (extraneous variables) which may be due to a lack of control and standardised procedures
demand characteristics act as a common threat to internal validity and so does investigator effects/researcher bias where the researcher consciously or subconsciously influences the Pp behaviour via body language or tone of voice for example; or how they interpret Pp behaviours
What is external validity
relates to external factors of an experiment such as the ability to generalise the findings to other settings, populations and eras
What is ecological validity
type of external validity;
the extent to which findings of any particular study can be generalised to alternative environments
What is mundane realism
how naturalistic a task is and how much it reflects real life situations/experiences
What is population validity
the extent to which a sample used in a study is representative of the target population
What is temporal validity
the extent to which the findings of a study can be generalised to other time periods/eras
(e.g Aschs conformity experiment has been criticised for being low in temporal validity as it took place in a particularly conformist era after the world war so results may differ in modern day society)
How can you assess validity
Face validity; wether a test appears to measure what it is supposed to measure (can ask another expert to check)
Concurrent validity; the extent to which data from a new created test is similar to an older established test is the same variable by using correlation
How do you improve validity in experiments
- using a control group to determine wether effects on the DV are due to the IV
- high levels of control;
standardised procedures to control extraneous variables
random allocation to control Pp variables
counterbalancing to control order effects
single/double blind trials to control researcher bias and demand characteristics
peer review to control researcher bias
How can you improve ecological validity
replicate findings in multiple settings
How can you improve population validity
replicate findings with diverse groups of people
how can you improve temporal validity
replicate historical studies
how can you improve mundane realism
replicate findings using real world/realistic tasks
