Validity

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Answer

Validity

            The model of validity was developed by Kelly (1927) who strongly advanced that a test is only valid if it accurately measures what it claims. Validity refers to the credibility of any given research whereby the findings depend on the extent of the research and are used to determine the underlying relationships that exist between variables (Barlow, Nock & Hersen, 2009). There is a need to make a distinction between the two main branches of validity, namely internal and external validity, because it is from here that other sub-branches such as social, historical and ecological validity emerge.

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            Internal validity is a measure of whether the outcomes of a research are primarily due to the manipulation of the independent variable and not extraneous factors. It seeks to establish whether there is a correlation between the independent and dependent variables. To improve the results from such studies, the researcher can control the impact of the extraneous variables by employing techniques such as counter balancing and using a similar set of instructions (Cooper, Heron & Heward, 2007). On the other hand, external validity refers to the extent to which the outcomes of research can be generalized beyond the immediate study and applied to other settings. To improve the accuracy of the results from these studies, a researcher can set up experiments in the natural environment and use random sampling to select participants to eliminate bias (Cooper, Heron & Heward, 2007).

            Social validity refers to the adequacy of the interventions used in a particular research. This satisfaction is usually evaluated by soliciting opinions and views from the people who implement them.According to Everitt and Howell (2005), both the recipients of the intervention and the individuals involved in the implementation process are questioned to establish this type of validity. All these constructs of validity are important in behavioral research because they add to significance and provide a basis forgeneralization. If a study is deemed invalid, then the results are practically meaningless becausethey cannot be used to generalize findings and transfer the knowledge to different real-life settings (Barlow, Nock & Hersen, 2009).

            To measure these types of validity, different methods are employed, and they vary depending on the keyaspects of validity. Experiments are conducted to measure internal validity because they can be structured and controlled. Contrary to this, both external and social validities are measured using observational research and soliciting for opinions respectively. This is because they are conducted in the real world,hence they allow room for generalizability (Everitt & Howell, 2005).

References

Barlow, D. H., Nock, M. K., & Hersen, M. (2009). Single case experimental designs: Strategies for studying behavior change (3rd Ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education.

Cooper, J. O., Heron, T. E., & Heward, W. L. (2007). Applied behavior analysis (2nd Ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill Prentice Hall.

Everitt, B. S., & Howell, D. C. (2005). Encyclopedia of statistics in behavioral science. Boston, MA: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Kelly, T. L. (1927). Interpretation of educational measurements. New York, NY: Free Press.