Validity in Quantitative Research Designs

Validity in research is a term that refers to the extent with which researchers are confident that they have determined causal relationships through the cause and effect they identify in their study. As a result, validity is an important aspect of research since it helps in determining whether the research design is flawed and the credibility of research findings. There are various kinds of validity that are utilized in determining the validity of quantitative studies including internal validity, external validity, statistical conclusion validity, and constructs validity. Polit & Beck (2012) suggests that researchers attempt to ensure validity of their studies through maintaining adequate control over confounding variables.

The Study
Padula, Hughes & Baumhover (2009) conducted a study in which they examined the effect of nurse-driven mobility protocol on functional deterioration in hospitalized older adults. This quasi-experimental study was carried out on the premise that functional status is an important aspect of the health, wellbeing, and quality of life of older adults. The researcher utilized a non-equivalent control group design in which dependent variables were hospital length of stay and functional status whereas mobility control was the independent variable.
Potential Concerns Regarding the Study’s Internal Validity
One of the potential concerns that could be raised regarding the study’s internal validity is the selection of subjects and placement in the treatment and control groups. This is a potential concern since the researchers selected the subjects in a non-random manner i.e. through convenience sampling. In this regard, the study’s findings are likely to be biased when comparing the treatment and control group during data analysis. Secondly, instrumentation could also be a potential concern regarding the study’s internal validity. The researchers utilized GENESIS program as the intervention, which implies that the use of another intervention could generate different results. Changes in the instrumentation would impact what is being measured in the study and how the evaluation is carried out. The third potential concern that could be raised regarding the study’s internal validity is experimental mortality given that a significant number of eligible subjects who were enrolled for the study withdrew. These subjects dropped for several reasons including illness-associated anxiety, which implies that loss of participants could have impact on the study’s findings.
Recommendations to Strengthen Internal Validity
Given these potential concerns regarding the study’s internal concerns and their potential impact on the study’s findings, it’s important to strengthen the research’s internal validity. First, the study could have been strengthened through establishing clear and concise guidelines for the control group. Secondly, the researchers could have established clear guidelines for determining mobility control i.e. the independent variable and utilized the data for all patients. Third, the researchers should have ensured that participants in both groups were as similar as possible and utilized an instrumentation method that would be common in a normal nursing unit.
Impact on Other Types of Validity
These recommendations would affect the other three types of validity in this research. Establishing a clear and concise set of guidelines would have enhanced statistical conclusion through offering the best evidence regarding the causal link between the independent variable and dependent variables. These changes would enhance construct validity through ensuring all participants are from a similar environment and have the same function status. This would also help in enhancing external validity by ensuring that the study could be replicated and its findings could be generalized to other settings.
Dangers of Failing to Consider Validity of a Study
As shown through this analysis, ensuring the validity of a research study is critical in various aspects, particularly in relation to study findings. One of the dangers of failing to consider the validity of a research is the likelihood of generating inaccurate findings. Researchers enhance the credibility and accuracy of their findings through ensuring the validity of their study. As a result, the study’s findings may not be replicated and/or generalized to other study settings. Secondly, the failure to consider the validity of a study could result in the use of inappropriate research methodology and design. This implies that examining the validity of a study helps in ensuring the use of a suitable research design that is vital towards yielding accurate and credible results. Additionally, the failure to consider the validity of a research could contribute to lack of replicability, which is a major issue in social science research.


References
Padula, C. A., Hughes, C., & Baumhover, L. (2009). Impact of a Nurse-driven Mobility Protocol on Functional Decline in Hospitalized Older Adults. Journal of Nursing Care Quality, 24(4), 325–331.
Polit, D.F. & Beck, C.T. (2012). Nursing research: generating and assessing evidence for nursing practice (9th ed.). China: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins