Validity Flashcards
1
Q
What is validity?
A
- the extent to whether a method produces results that are genuine and represents what is the real world
2
Q
What is external validity?
A
- refers to the extent to which findings can be generalised beyond the research setting in which they are found e.g. populations, other settings, eras
3
Q
What is internal validity?
A
- Whether the researcher has managed to measure what they intended to measure
- whether the effects observed in an experiment are due to the manipulation of the IV and not another factor
4
Q
What threat is posed to internal validity?
A
- demand characteristics
5
Q
What are the types of external validity?
A
- ecological
-temporal
-population
6
Q
What is ecological validity?
A
- extent to which findings from a study can be generalised to other settings- most particular to everyday life
7
Q
What is temporal validity?
A
- extent to which findings from a study can be generalised to other historical times and eras
8
Q
What is mundane realism?
A
- task does not mirror everyday life
9
Q
What are the two ways of assessing validity?
A
- face validity
- concurrent validity
10
Q
What is face validity?
A
- basic form of validity in which a measure is scrutinised to determine whether it appears to measure what it is supposed to measure - does it look like it is?
11
Q
What is concurrent validity?
A
- the extent to which a psychological measure relates to an existing similar (known to be valid/well established) measure
- close agreement would indicate that the new test has high concurrent validity > exceeding .80 CC
12
Q
How to improve validity of a questionnaire?
A
- anonymity and lie scale > controls effects of social desirability bias and assesses consistency of a respondents response
13
Q
How to improve validity in a experiment?
A
- use control group
- standardise procedures/same investigator/double-blind/single-blind to minimise investigator effects & demand characteristics
- control of extraneous variables
14
Q
How to improve validity of observations?
A
- covert observation and unambiguous behavioural categories
15
Q
How to improve the validity of qualitative research?
A
- triangulation - use of a number of different sources as evidence. e.g. interviews, diaries, observations
> demonstrates interpretive validity (extent to which the researcher interpretation of events matches their participants) of their conclusions
