Question

Measurement, external, internal and statistical conclusion validity are the four major types of validity. What does each address, and give an example (1 or 2 sentences) of an experiment that addresses each type of validity? What are the 4 components of external validity, what does each address, and give an example (1 or 2 sentences) of an experiment that addresses each component of external validity? What are the 4 stages of participant selection/sampling and what does each address? What is the difference between a qualitative variable and a quantitative variable and give 4 examples of each? What is the difference between an independent variable and a dependent variable? Give me a simple 1 or 2 sentence study outlining the independent and dependent variables (hint: think cause and effect). 2 pts. If we were going to run an experiment that measures if rise in temperature in a classroom is related to aggression and degree of liking people, how would you operationally define the variables (hint: there are 3 – 2 dependent variables and 1 independent variable)? 2 pts.

Answer 1

Measurement validity would be how far the experiment measures what it claims to measure or for that matter a test. This is the reason why tests are standardized in order to discern whether or not a test does in fact measure what it is supposed to measure. Internal validity is the extent to which a test is free of errors, which are likely to occur due to independent variable and external validity is the extent to which it can be applied to the world at large in terms of it's real application. The content related validity types are face and construct validity. The former is related to how a test appears to measure what it's supposed and the latter is how far it's related to the underlying theoretical concepts per se. The other two are concurrent and predictive validity wherein the latter is concerned with how well a test stands true for a related concept in reality and the former connects to whether it really relates to an existing similar measure. The generalizability and applicability are core components of external validity which help determining how far they're able to lay conclusive arguments and generalize as well as their ecological validity I.e. in real life. The steps involved in sampling are selecting a target population, defining the sampling frame, choosing a probability or non probability method of selection, identifying procedure, laying down sample size, selecting units and finally conducting field work. The difference between dependent and independent variable is that the former is what is being measured whereas the latter is what is being manipulated in order to determine the relationship between the two. In the given example, temperature is the independent variable whereas the aggression and degree of risking people is the dependent variable.