Validity, in essence, has got to do with the extent to which a given research study measures the accuracy of a specific concept – effectively meaning that a study can be said to have passed the validity test if it accurately mirrors that which the researchers set about to investigate. In quantitative research, as Polit and Beck (2012) point out, “researchers strive to design studies that are strong with respect to all four types of study validity” (p. 303). As the authors further point out, while an attempt to enhance one kind of validity may benefit another form of validity, efforts to ensure one kind of validity sometimes end up interfering with the achievement of other validity types. The four kinds of validity to be taken into consideration in the review of a research design are identified as external validity, internal validity, construct validity, and statistical conclusion validity (Balnaves and Caputi, 2001).Internal validity is often been cited as being of utmost importance in research (Polit and Beck, 2012). For a qualitative research to be regarded beneficial and relevant,it has to clearly define or demonstrate cause and effect. In the absence of internal validity, the said case and effect relationship would be weak and therefore,...
Findings would, therefore, be nothing but unwarranted claims.
External validity comes in handy in the measurement of “the extent to which your sample is genuinely representative of the population from which you have drawn it” (Balnaves and Caputi, 2001, p. 89).” Therefore, external validity enhances a study's generalizability aspect. A research that does not have wide applicability does not make the much needed contribution to a specific field of study. While the relevance of internal validity cannot be overstated when it comes to the determination of a program’s effectiveness, for instance, external validity is equally important in seeking to determine how effective the said program is likely to be in other settings.
When it comes to construct validity, it is important to note that for a research study to truly reflect that which the researcher sets about to investigate, its constructs ought to be represented in an appropriate and accurate manner. To achieve this, established methods and standards ought to be utilized in the constriction of tests/research. On this front, a researcher ought to ask whether or not the experiment…
