Question

Sometimes political science students can be confused by similar-sounding terms, such as civil liberties and civil rights, or terms that describe similar but distinct concepts, such as slander and libel. This confusion is often exacerbated when it comes to methodological terms. This exercise is about reinforcing your understanding of similar terms. For each of the word pairs below, define each term and then explain the important differences between them.

1-Internal validity and external validity

1. Causation and correlation

2. Experimental effect and experimental group

3. Test factor and pretest

4. Experiment and field experiment

Answer 1

1 )

Internal validity is dedined as the extend to which the observed result represent the truth in the population we are studying . It refer to the degree of confidence that the casual relationship is being tested

External validity refer to the extend to which results from a study can be applied to other situations groups and events.  

The basic difference between these two is that internal validity talks about the relationship between variable but the external validity is concerned with the universality of the results.

2 )

Correlation is the degree of association between two random variables .It is also said as the measure that describe the amount and direction of the relationship between two or more variable.

Causation indicate that one event is the result of occurrence of the other event or can be said as one event cause other event to happen .

Correlation between two variable doesn't indicate that one event cause the another one . But in causation there is already a relationship between the event hence it can be referred as the correlation .

3 )

The expiremental group is the group in an experiment that receives the variable being tested .These group will test the given variable and help in the experimental programme . .

Experimental effect this may be defined as the results that occurs to the dependent variable after the treatment variable or the independent variable has been altered .

4 )

Pre test refers that the test Carrier or questionaire is tested on a small sample of respondent before a full scale study. Or it also be used to refer to an initial measurement before an experimental treatment is administrated.

In an experiment test factor is an explanatory variable developed by the experimenter. It can also be called as the independent varible of an experiment.

Test Factor has a influence on the experimental effect or the dependent variable .

5 )

An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or validate a hypothesis . These are the test done in order to learn something or to discover something and also to find the relationship between variables .

Field experiment is an experiment performed outside the laboratory , in the real world. It also follow all scientific steps for the research.The main advantage of this is that it gives a practical environment with out artificially introducing confounding variable .