Internal validity and reliability are at the core of any experimental design.Įxternal validity is the process of examining the results and questioning whether there are any other possible causal relationships.Ĭontrol groups and randomization will lessen external validity problems but no method can be completely successful. Internal validity dictates how an experimental design is structured and encompasses all of the steps of the scientific research method.Įven if your results are great, sloppy and inconsistent design will compromise your integrity in the eyes of the scientific community. Validity encompasses the entire experimental concept and establishes whether the results obtained meet all of the requirements of the scientific research method.įor example, there must have been randomization of the sample groups and appropriate care and diligence shown in the allocation of controls. Reliability is a necessary ingredient for determining the overall validity of a scientific experiment and enhancing the strength of the results.ĭebate between social and pure scientists, concerning reliability, is robust and ongoing. This means that such experiments are more difficult to repeat and are inherently less reliable. Human judgment can vary wildly between observers, and the same individual may rate things differently depending upon time of day and current mood. However, diligent scientists take measurements many times, to minimize the chances of malfunction and maintain validity and reliability.Īt the other extreme, any experiment that uses human judgment is always going to come under question.įor example, if observers rate certain aspects, like in Bandura’s Bobo Doll Experiment, then the reliability of the test is compromised. Generally, it is reasonable to assume that the instruments are reliable and will keep true and accurate time. This prerequisite is essential to a hypothesis establishing itself as an accepted scientific truth.įor example, if you are performing a time critical experiment, you will be using some type of stopwatch. Without this replication of statistically significant results, the experiment and research have not fulfilled all of the requirements of testability. This will reinforce the findings and ensure that the wider scientific community will accept the hypothesis.
Other researchers must be able to perform exactly the same experiment, under the same conditions and generate the same results. The idea behind reliability is that any significant results must be more than a one-off finding and be inherently repeatable.
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