L4 - Validity Flashcards
What is validity?
- Refers to whether a measure is actually measuring what it claims to measure
- e.g: a test of intelligence should not actually measure memory
What is Face Validity?
When behaviour appears at first sight to represent what is being measured
e.g: observation - people with higher scores in exams are getting higher scores in an IQ test. This is the same as on the surface
What is Internal Validity?
- When the effects observed in a study are due to the manipulation of the independent variable
- There is a causal relationship between the independent variable and the dependent
How can internal validity be improved?
- Controlling extraneous variables
- Using standardised instructions
- Counterbalancing
- Eliminating Demand characteristics & Investigator effects
What is concurrent validity?
- Establishing internal validity of a new test.
E.g - scores gained from a new test can be compared against an older test where validity of already known. If both tests have similar scores a correlation of 0.8+) then the new test has high internal validity
What is external validity?
Refers to the extend results can be generalised to:
- Other settings (ecological validity)
- Other people (population validity)
- Over time (temporal validity)
How can External validity be improved?
- Setting experiments in a more natural setting
- Using random sampling to select participants
What is Ecological Validity?
- Where a measure of behaviour accurately reflects the way in which the behaviour would occur in normal circumstances
What is Population validity?
Refers to the extent to which the sample can be generalised to the wider population
What is Temporal validity?
When findings from research which took place at a certain point in time accurately reflect the way behaviour would occur at a different point in time
