Describe and give examples of research questions for which e

Describe and give examples of research questions for which external validity is a primary concern

Solution

External validity refers to the ability of a research design to provide results that can be generalized to real life situations.

External validity is the process of generalization, and whether results obtained from a small sample group, often in laboratory surroundings, can be extended to make predictions about the entire population.

Example:

If a researcher in a fictional heart-medication study found that the medication, under controlled conditions, prevented the development of heart disease in research participants, he would want to generalize these findings — to state that the medication will prevent heart disease in the general population. However, let’s say that the research design required the exclusion of many potential participants — such as people who abuse alcohol or other drugs, suffer from diabetes, weigh more than average for their height, and have never suffered from a mood or anxiety disorder. These are common risk factors for heart disease and, by excluding these people, the study’s results would provide little evidence that the medication will be effective for people with these risk factors. In other words, the study would have low external validity and, hence, we could not generalize its results to the general population.