Why aren’t experiments very generalizable? What can be done to improve the external validity of experiments?

What will be an ideal response?


The design components that are essential for a true experiment and that minimize the
threats to causal validity make it more difficult to achieve sample generalizability;
subjects who are recruited, randomly assigned to a group, and kept under carefully
controlled conditions are unlikely to represent the larger population; researchers, then,
can take steps both before and after an experiment to increase a study’s generalizability.
In field experiments, participants can be selected randomly from the population and then results can be more generalizable to the population. Also, when random selection is not
feasible, the researchers may be able to increase generalizability by selecting several
different experimental sites that offer marked contrasts on key variables.

Social Work & Human Services

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Understanding the organizational structure of an agency is helpful for what reason?

A) ?The case manager will have a better understanding of his or her job responsibilities in the context of the agency. B) The case manager will have a better understanding of how to work around the agency's chain of command.? C) ?The case manager will have a better understanding of how clients might try to take advantage of the agency. D) ?The case manager will have a better understanding of the need for advocacy on behalf of the clients.

Social Work & Human Services

The sentimental view of mothers and children that had fueled maternalism earlier in the century was in decline. Which of the following is not a reason for this decline?

a) Single mothers were no longer the objects of pity. b) Mothers were seen as fault. c) Mothers were expected to both work and raise their children. d) Mothers priority should be the home.

Social Work & Human Services

Empathy, which is a basic component in any interpersonal relationship, is best understood as

A) ?offering sympathy for another. B) ?having the ability to attribute meaning to statements without checking them out. C) ?entering another's world by listening with respect and understanding. D) ?showing pity for another.

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Which type of group has as its purpose to help participants strengthen social skills and develop socially acceptable behavior, stimulate behavior change and increase self-confidence, and focus on cooperation and personal decision making?

a. self-help group b. recreation group c. encounter group d. socialization group

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