External validity

External validity
External validity refers to how Ecological validity, an aspect of
well the outcome of a study can external validity, refers to whether
be expected to apply to other a study's findings can be
settings. In other words, this type generalized to the real world.
of validity refers to how Another term called transferability
generalizable the findings are. relates to external validity and
For instance, do the findings refers to a qualitative research
apply to other people, settings, design. Transferability refers to
situations, and time periods whether results transfer to
situations with similar
characteristics.
External validity is the extent to which you can generalize your findings to a
larger group or other contexts. If your research lacks external validity, the
findings cannot be applied to contexts other than the one in which you
carried out your research.
 3

External validity
External validity is the extent to which you can generalize the
findings of a study to other situations, people, settings and
measures. In other words, can you apply the findings of your study
to a broader context The aim of scientific research is to produce
generalizable knowledge about the real world. Without high
external validity, you cannot apply results from the laboratory to
other people or the real world.
 4

types of external validity:

POPULATION VALIDITY
ECOLOGICAL VALIDITION HEADLINE
 5

ECOLOGICAL VALIDITY
Ecological validity refers to whether you can
reasonably generalize the findings of a study to
other situations and settings in the ‘real world’.
 6

POPULATION VALIDITY
✖ Population validity refers to whether you can reasonably generalize
the findings from your sample to a larger group of people (the
population).
✖ Population validity depends on the choice of population and on the
extent to which the study sample mirrors that population. Non-
probability sampling methods are often used for convenience. With
this type of sampling, the generalizability of results is limited to
populations that share similar characteristics with the sample
 7

✖ Example: low ecological validity

✖ You want to test the hypothesis that driving reaction times become slower when
people pay attention to others talking.
✖ In a laboratory setting, you set up a simple computer-based task to measure
reaction times. Participants are told to imagine themselves driving around the
racetrack and double-click the mouse whenever they see an orange cat on the
screen. For one round, participants listen to a podcast. In the other round, they
do not need to listen to anything. After assessing the results, you find that
reaction times are much slower when listening to the podcast.
✖ Can you conclude that driving reaction times are slower when people listen to
others talking?
 8

Example: low population validity

You want to test the hypothesis that people tend to perceive themselves as smarter than others
in terms of academic abilities. Your target population is the 10,000 undergraduate students at
your university.
You recruit over 200 participants. They are science and engineering majors; most of them are
American, male, 18–20 years old and from a high socioeconomic background. In a laboratory
setting, you administer a mathematics and science test and then ask them to rate how well they
think performed. You find that the average participant believes they are smarter than 66% of
their peers.
Can you conclude that most people believe themselves to be much better than others at maths
and science?
 9

Threats to external validity and how to counter

them
Threats to external validity are important to recognize and counter
in a research design for a robust study.

Research example
A researcher wants to test the hypothesis that people with clinical
diagnoses of mental disorders can benefit from practicing
mindfulness daily in just two months’ time. They recruit people
who have been diagnosed with depression for at least a year, are
aged between 20–29, and live locally.
 10

THANK YOU!
.