VALIDITY

VALIDITY

1. Internal Validity

   • this is concerned with what goes on INSIDE the study.
   • Face validity
     • very basic form of validity in which you determine is a measure ''appears'' (on the face of it) to measure what is is supposed to measure.
   • Concurrent Validity
     • assesses validity by correlating scores on a test with another test known to be valid.
   • Predictive Validity
     • assess validity by predicting how well a test predicts future behaviour.

2. External Validity

   • this often affected by the internal validity- it is the degree to which a research finding can be generalised.
   • Ecological Validity
     • the place where the research was conducted. it may not be appropriate to generalise from the research setting to ther settings, most importantly to everyday life.
   • Population Validity
     • the people who are studied. if a research study involved just students or all men or only Americans etc. then it may not be appropriate to generalise the findings to all people.
   • Historical / Temporal Validity
     • the historical period. if a study was conducted in the 1950's it may not be appropriate to generalise the findings to people today because many other factors affect behaviour now.