validity

• Validity


  Asking if something is true, accurate, and can be believed
• Questionability is always important in science, especially in psychology where there is potential for bias
• Researchers have to carefully consider the validity of their findings by thinking about how they created their results and if their results really show something true about behavior
• Internal validity


  Questioning if the change in the independent variable actually produced the change in the dependent variable, or if it was something else
• External validity


  Considering if the findings can be generalized beyond the study setting and population
• Ecological validity


  • Considering if the findings from one setting can be generalized to other settings
• Mundane realism


  • How close the task is to real life or naturalistic behavior
• Population validity


  • Generalizing findings from the sample to the broader population
• Temporal validity


  • If a finding can be applied across time as society changes
• Face validity


  If the measure looks like it's measuring what it's intending to measure
• Criterion validity


  Matching the scores gained on a test to another standard or criteria
• Concurrent validity


  Comparing a new test to an established test of the same thing
• Predictive validity


  Ability to accurately predict future performance based on the results of a measure
• How to improve validity


  1. Controlling for extraneous variables

  2. Replication in different settings and populations

  3. Using modern day replications