Validity and Reliability

Question 1

Reliability

Answer 1

• Reliability refers to whether something is consistent.
• Any tool used to measure something must be reliable.
• The reliability of an experiment can be determined through replication and often leads to replication.

Question 2

What is a type of reliability?

Answer 2

Inter-observer/inter-rater reliability

Question 3

Inter-observer /inter-rater reliability

Answer 3

Inter-observer reliability refers to the extent to which there is agreement between 2 observers involved in observing a behaviour.

Question 4

Validity

Answer 4

• The results of a research may be reliable but this does not necessarily mean that they are valid.
• Valid results are true and accurate.

Question 5

What are the 2 main types of validity?

Answer 5

1. Internal validity
2. External validity

Question 6

Internal validity

Answer 6

• The extent to which a study actually measures what it claims to be measuring.
• Internal validity can be established through control of relevant extraneous variables in an experimental design so that they don’t become confounding variables, using a repeated measures design, controlling situational and investigator variables, attempting to reduce demand characteristics and social desirability bias.

Question 7

What are the 2 main types of internal validity?

Answer 7

1. Face validity
2. Concurrent validity

Question 8

Face validity

Answer 8

Whether a test appears to measure what it claims to at face value.

Question 9

Concurrent validity

Answer 9

Comparing the results obtained by a new test with an established one to see if they produce similar results.

Question 10

External validity

Answer 10

• Even though a research study has internal validity, it does not mean that its findings can be generalised.
• External validity refers to the extent to which findings can be generalised beyond the study.
• External validity can be established through the sampling, partial replication, realism and triangulation.

Question 11

What are the 4 main types of external validity?

Answer 11

1. Ecological validity
2. Population validity
3. Temporal validity
4. Predictive validity

Question 12

Ecological validity

Answer 12

• Whether findings can be generalised to real-life settings. It includes:

1. Generalisability - ability to generalise findings outside the lab.
2. Representativeness/Mundane Realism - how well a study’s tasks or procedures reflect real-life situations.

Question 13

Population validity

Answer 13

• Whether findings can be generalized to different groups of people.

Question 14

Temporal validity

Answer 14

• Whether findings remain relevant over time.

Question 15

Predictive validity

Answer 15

How well a test or measure can predict future outcomes.