Consider the various threats to internal and external validity described in the text. Discuss the various threats and explain which you think would be the most threatening to the worth of a study. Which of the threats do you think would be more commonly faced than others?
There are a variety of threats to internal and external validity when referencing an experiment. Internal validity evaluates the soundness of the procedures in the experiment. It reflects the ability to accurately measure the impact of the independent variable on the dependent variable. Internal threats include history, maturation, selection, testing, reactive measures, instrumentation, regression to the mean, mortality, and diffusion or imitation of treatment.
History presents a threat in that the results obtained from the experiment may be influenced by outside historical situations or events. An example of this would be if a study was done to evaluate people’s intended choice for a presidential candidate and then it is found out that one of the candidates has done something immoral. This one act could change people’s perception of the candidate and ultimately sway their vote to another candidate or maybe even across party lines.
Maturation provides a
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Many times researchers will use those participants who are most readily available and willing to participate in research. Many times researchers may end up with a group that is not necessarily representative of the greater population, but a more defined population. It is more difficult to achieve generalizability in this circumstance. I believe the biggest threat to external validity rests with the researcher to avoid experimenter effects. I think it would be common for anyone to have a preconceived idea of what they think might happen and then have difficulty not looking for results or patterns that support that idea and ignoring (or discounting) contrary
Part B: How might each of the following concepts affect the results of the study?
External validity is when research findings are applied to the real world. When looking at 19-21 year olds on a college campus, we need to study a broad range of individuals coming from different cultures and backgrounds. We also need to look at which situations these are being applied to such as where they are there drinking habits taking place.
A research critique aims to measure the value and significance of a study. These are determined by
4. What is more important in an experimental study, designing the study in order to make strong internal validity claims or strong external validity claims? Why?
Internal validity of this study included data collection process and student personal interest in education. For example, students may have scored in exam because they concern about their own education. Reliability of this study instrument has not been tested. This is the first time this group will have this survey. There is no former survey to use as a standard to see if there are many changes.
By doing research on individuals that represent this population, allows one to have a better understanding, with the ability to decreases the personal biases that we may have as a challenge in counseling or psychology, when working with this group. In my undergraduate study I did a research
* How might these methodological considerations affect the research findings and the conclusions drawn from them?
a) What are the main reasons why the authors decided to conduct this study? How did they justify what they did?
2. Describe the threats to internal validity discussed in the text: history, maturation, testing, instrument decay, regression toward the mean, and selection differences.
The table organizes the threats into two categories, internal and construct validity. Internal validity is in regards to the variable in the study and that is, in fact, affecting the experiment, not something elsewhere. Therefore, to construct validity is the ability of a measurement tool to properly measure what it is supposed to measure (Marino 2007). Under the category construct validity, nonspecific events are placed because they were improvements in the study that were not specific to the intended treatment deemed to the study (Marino 2007). An example of this is the placebo effect which is where the participants in the dolphin assisted therapy expect to improve from their treatment; therefore they see an improvement when there isn’t
2. Discuss the generalizability and validity of the study. For example, will findings of this study generalize to other people and/or situations, can we generalize from the study participants to the general population, and do the methods employed have validity?
Validity. The author of this paper considers Article B valid because of the strong external validity that it demonstrates. According to Polit and Beck (2017), replication is an essential concept of external validity. The systematic
When researchers select participants from several different parts of the population, they are selecting a
However, the pitfalls of the study are also included in this section as well as the factors that limited the study. This section should however, compare the results with those from other similar studies. Yet for this paper, that part was lacking. Besides, the paper discussed the potential limitations to the research as well as the strengths of the study (Viktrup, 2002). The study’s implication is also inclusive and is clearly structured and helpful. Finally, the paper had a conclusion that contained a summary and the recommendations.
According to Polit and Beck (2017), validity is the extent by which research evidence reinforces that the data analysis are truthful and the method the date is utilized is suitable. There are arrays of threats to research design validity; threats to internal validity include testing and instrumentation, temporal ambiguity, selection, history, maturation, and attrition or mortality. Research scholar needs to understand that while appraising a research study, it is imperative that the validity is analyzed prior to implementing the result into practice, implementing an untrue research into practice could result in a compromised quality of care, astronomical expenses for the organization, and insignificant outcome to patient