Research Methods Upper Sixth - VALIDITY

Question 1

What is validity

Answer 1

A measure of accuracy , does it measure what it was supposed to measure and can it be generalised beyond the setting it was found

Question 2

What’s internal validity

Answer 2

Ability of Study to test the hypothesis

Question 3

How can we decide if a study is valid ?

Answer 3

1. Are the variables / behavioural catergories operationalised
2. Are the results affected by confounding variables
   - demand characteristics
   - experimenter bias
   - participant variables
3. The experimental design

Question 4

What is external validity

Answer 4

How well the results can be generalised beyond where it was found
-Ecological validity
- population validity
- historical validity

Question 5

How can we assess validity

Answer 5

Face validity - simply judgment , does it assess what it says it will

Concurrent validity - if similar findings to another experiment

Content validity - asking experts of the fiekd to check methodology of study

Question 6

How can we improve validity

Answer 6

Standardise everything

Remove questions that lack face validity in questionnaires

Improve research design to remove investigator effects etc
So use double blind procedures or single blind to reduce demand characteristics