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External validity is the validity of applying the conclusions of a scientific study outside the context of that study. [1] In other words, it is the extent to which the results of a study can generalize or transport to other situations, people, stimuli, and times.
Ecological validity, the ability to generalize study findings to the real world, is a subcategory of external validity. [ 6 ] Another example highlighting the differences between these terms is from an experiment that studied pointing [ 7 ] —a trait originally attributed uniquely to humans—in captive chimpanzees.
Naturalistic observation can also be used to verify external validity, permitting researchers to examine whether study findings generalize to real world scenarios. Naturalistic observation may also be conducted in lieu of structured experiments when implementing an experiment that would be too costly.
Validity [5] of an assessment is the degree to which it measures what it is supposed to measure. This is not the same as reliability, which is the extent to which a measurement gives results that are very consistent. Within validity, the measurement does not always have to be similar, as it does in reliability.
Test validity is the extent to which a test (such as a chemical, physical, or scholastic test) accurately measures what it is supposed to measure.In the fields of psychological testing and educational testing, "validity refers to the degree to which evidence and theory support the interpretations of test scores entailed by proposed uses of tests". [1]
Reliability does not imply validity. That is, a reliable measure that is measuring something consistently is not necessarily measuring what is supposed to be measured. For example, while there are many reliable tests of specific abilities, not all of them would be valid for predicting, say, job performance.
Convergent and discriminant validity are ascertained by correlation between similar of different constructs. Content Validity: Subject matter experts evaluate content validity. Criterion Validity is correlation between the test and a criterion variable (or variables) of the construct.
Field experiments offer researchers a way to test theories and answer questions with higher external validity because they simulate real-world occurrences. [6] Some researchers argue that field experiments are a better guard against potential bias and biased estimators. As well, field experiments can act as benchmarks for comparing ...