1.

Statistical Conclusion Validity

Four Types 2.Internal Validity
of Validity 3. External Validity
Threats 4.Construct Validity
 Refers to our ability to determine whether a
change in the suspected cause is statistically
associated with a change in the suspected
effect

Statistical
Conclusion Are two variables related to each other?

Validity
Researchers cannot have much confidence in
statements about cause if their findings are
based on a small number of cases
INDIVIDUALS GROUPS ORGANIZATIONS SOCIAL
ARTIFACTS
 • Explanatory scientific research centers on the notion of cause and effect
• Most explanatory social research uses a probabilistic model of causation
• Three basic requirements determine a causal relationship in scientific
research:

Summary • The independent and dependent variables must be empirically related

to each other
• The independent variable must occur before the dependent variable
• The observed relationship cannot be explained away as the effect of
another variable
• When scientists consider whether causal statement are true or false, they
are concerned with validity of causal inference
• Four classes of threats to validity correspond to the types of questions
researchers ask in trying to establish cause and effect
• A scientific realist approach to examining mechanisms in context bridges
idiographic and nomothetic approaches to causation
• Units of analysis are the people or things whose characteristics researchers
observe, describe, and explain
• Researchers sometimes confuse units of analysis, resulting in the ecological
fallacy
• Cross-sectional studies are those based on observations made at one time
• Longitudinal studies are those in which observations are made at many
time
• Retrospective studies sometimes can approximate longitudinal studies, but
retrospective approaches must be used with care