Validity, Reliability and Bias

Start with the key terms

Begin with the flashcard deck Reliability and validity if you want to focus on the terms in this topic’s name. For a broader set of terms, the RMP flashcards include validity and reliability alongside confounding variables and types of variation. Work through the cards, then return to any terms you want to study again.

The flashcards on experimental measurements offer another route into the topic. They cover systematic and random error, as well as standard deviation. Use them to extend your study from terminology to the kinds of error described in the deck.

Explore bias and reliability

The mind map on research bias connects participation rates, differences between respondents and nonrespondents, and representative samples. Follow those connections as you study how the map discusses applying findings to society.

For a different view of reliability, the Statistical termination flashcards cover agreement within a single rater and between raters. The mind map on item analysis and Cronbach’s alpha also includes item-total correlations. These resources let you explore different approaches to reliability without relying on a single set of definitions.

Use a quiz alongside a map

After studying the research bias map, try the quiz on non-independence, confounding and pseudoreplication. Its questions offer a way to practice thinking about experimental design. Return to the map afterward and consider how its points about samples relate to the research questions you are studying.

Another quiz asks about ethics and humane experimentation. You can use it to practice a different part of the material listed on this page, then revisit the resources most relevant to the terms you want to study.

Place the topic in its unit

Validity, Reliability and Bias is one section of the research methods and experimental design unit in Statistics and probability. The resources here connect terms such as error and confounding with questions about samples, agreement and research practice. Pick a resource and work through it at your own pace.