What is internal validity and why does it matter?

What will be an ideal response?


Internal validity is the approximate truth about inferences regarding cause-effect or causal relationships. What does it really mean? Establishing internal validity is just a technical way of saying that you have ruled out plausible alternative explanations and have thus shown that a causal relationship likely exists between your program and the intended outcome. The key question in internal validity is whether observed changes can be attributed to your program or intervention (the cause) and not to other possible causes (described as alternative explanations for the outcome).
How do you go about establishing internal validity? One of the major ways is through the research design you apply. That is, a specific research design can address particular issues and help you eliminate the alternative explanations for your results, thereby enhancing the internal validity of your causal conclusions.

Psychology

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James's description of habit indicates that it is ____

a. ?a repetitive action b. ?a component of the preconscious c. ?an intervening variable d. ?evidence of latent learning e. ?a classically conditioned response

Psychology

Self-perception theory suggests that we:

A. observe our own behavior and then infer attitudes from the behavior B. strive to reduce inconsistencies between our attitudes and behavior C. feel motivated to conserve time and effort by taking cognitive shortcuts D. attempt to control and regulate the information that we present to others

Psychology

Women from different cultures who experience sexual dissatisfaction may likely perceive its causes

a. quite similarly. b. quite differently. c. as measureable. d. as misunderstood.

Psychology

The "S" in the DSM stands for:

A) Statistical. B) Sign. C) Symptom. D) Screening.

Psychology