Key terms for evaluation

• Does the dependent variable really reflect the behaviour being studied?

  Internal validity.
• Did the participants fear that they were being judged by the experimenter and hence changed their behaviour?

  Evaluation apprehension.
• Did cues in the experiment make the participant react in a particular way?

  Demand characteristics.
• Is the task within the experiment similar to one carried out in every day life?

  Mundane realism.
• Can the results of the investigation be generalised to a real life context?

  Ecological validity.
• Do the results of the investigation stand the test of time?

  Temporal validity.
• Can the results be generalised to other populations not tested by the experimenter?

  Populational validity.
• Research/theories that emphasise the difference between men and women?

  Alpha bias.
• Research/theories that ignore or minimise sex differences? (These theories often assume that findings can apply equally to both men and women)

  Beta bias.
• Theories or research that is centred on men?

  Androcentric.
• Theories or research that is centred on females?

  Gynocentric.
• Participants want to appear good/better than they are so they give a desirable answer rather than the truth?

  Social desirability bias.
• Environmental factors that cannot/are not controlled?

  Situational variables.
• Where researcher could have influenced the participants behaviour or the data gathered?

  Experimenter bias.