Internal validity

How it is used

Discuss design features that protect causal interpretation.

Example sentences

1. Unequal starting scores threaten the internal validity of the training comparison.

   Prior differences could explain the later result.

2. The team improved internal validity by keeping instructions identical across groups.

   Consistent instructions remove one alternative explanation.

Common collocations

• threat to internal validity
• strengthen internal validity

Related terms

• validityThe extent to which a study or instrument really measures what it claims to measure and supports the conclusions drawn from it.
• control groupA group of participants in an experiment who do not receive the treatment being tested, so that their results can be compared with those who do.

More terms: Research Design

• research
• research question
• hypothesis
• methodology
• qualitative
• quantitative
• sample
• participant
• questionnaire
• case study
• carry out
• reliability