Validity

• What is validity?

  This is a general term used to refer to the legitimacy (accuracy) of a study.
• What is internal validity?

  This refers to the extent to which any changes in the DV (what you measure) can be attributed to the manipulation of the IV (what you change) and nothing else.
• What is external validity?

  Refers to the extent to which findings can be generalised to other situations, periods of time, and people.
• What are extraneous variables?

  This is any variable that may affect the DV but does not vary systematically with it.
• What are confounding variables?

  This is any variable that may affect the DV but that vary systematically with it.
• What is researcher bias?

  Where the researcher either directly or indirectly influences the results of a study, through the process of designing the study or through the way the research is conducted/analysed.
• What are demand characteristics?

  A cue that makes participants aware of the aims of the study or how the researcher expects the participants to behave.
• What is social desirability?

  Where participants give the response that they think will show them in the best possible light.
• What is mundane realism?

  This refers to how realistic the research environment is.
• What is generalisability?

  The extent to which results from a study can be transferred to other people, settings, and time periods.
• What is population validity?

  This means how generalisable the results are to other people.
• What is temporal validity>

  This means the generalisability of the research to different time periods.
• What is ecological validity?

  This means the generalisability of the results to other settings, particularly real life.
• What is measuring face validity?

  Whether the test appears (at face value) to measure what it claims to measure.
• What is measuring content validity?

  Checking the method of measuring behaviour is accurate and deciding whether it is a fair test that achieves the aims of the study. (starting with the content)
• What is measuring construct validity?

  Looking at whether the overall results reflect the phenomena as a whole. (start with the variables/construct)
• What is measuring concurrent validity?

  Comparing a measurement with an established measurement that has known validity.
• What is measuring predictive validity?

  Assessing whether a test accurately forecasts a future outcome on a more broadly related topic.