validity

• define validity?

  extent to which tool measures what it sets out to measure

  accuracy!
• name types of validity?

  1. internal
  2. external - ecological,population,temporal
• explain internal validity?

  extent to which we can say that test measures what it is supposed to be measuring & findings are due to iv & nothing else

  can establish true cause & effect relationship if evs are controlled
• 3 ways to improve internal validity?

  1. evs must be minimised
  2. careful planning & careful choice of research design should be used
  3. lab studies often have higher internal validity than field
• explain external validity?

  extent to which findings can be generalised
• explain ecological validity?

  how true to real life the research is & whether we can generalise it to real life situations
• 3 ways to improve ecological validity?

  1. conduct experiments in more natual environment
  2. use tasks that represent everyday life
  3. use materials that represent everyday life
• explain population validity?

  how true to the population the sample is

  how representative sample is of target population you are interested in studying
• 3 ways to improve population validity?

  1. conduct studies on large sample sizes
  2. use random/stratified sampling to ensure sample accurately reflects target population
  3. make sure there is variety of people
• explain temporal validity?

  extent to which findings of a study/theory are relevant in todays society
• how to improve temporal validity?

  do test again in modern day to see if results are still accurate
• 2 ways of assessing validity?

  1. concurrent
  2. face
• explain concurrent validity?

  how closely scores on test match a different measurement from same participant
• explain face validity?

  less rigourous

  involves looking at test to see if they are genuinely measuring what it is supposed to be