Key terminology

• Internal Validity


  The extent that a study can rule out or make unlikely alternate explanations of the results
• External Validity


  The validity of applying the conclusions of a scientific study outside the context of that study
• Temporal Validity


  A type of external validity that refers to the validity of the findings in relation to the progression of time
• Demand Characteristics


  refers to an experimental artifact where participants form an interpretation of the experiment's purpose and unconsciously change their behaviour to fit that interpretation
• Reliability


  The extent to which an experiment, test, or measuring procedure yields the same results on repeated trials
• Extraneous Variables


  Variables which influence the outcome of an experiment, which aren't the variables of interest. They can be controlled.
• Confounding Variables


  any other variable which has an effect on your dependent variable which cannot be controlled
• Unrepresentative


  Not typical of a class, group, or body of opinion
• Population Validity


  A type of external validity which describes how well the sample used can be generalised to a population as a whole
• Gender Bias


  The differential treatment and/or representation of males and females based on stereotypes and not on real differences
• Culture Bias


  The tendency for people to judge the outside world through a narrow view based on their own culture
• Ungeneralisable


  when research findings cannot be applied to the whole population