What is external validity?
A) The extent to which research findings are consistent with hypotheses.
B) The extent to which the sample equals the population.
C) The extent to which research findings can be generalized beyond the study.
D) A measure of how powerful the statistics being used are within a study.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

External validity refers to the degree to which research findings can be generalized beyond the study, to other populations, settings, and conditions. It is about how well the results can be applied to the real world, outside of the specific context in which the research was conducted. Therefore, option C is the correct choice. Option A refers to internal validity, which is about whether the research is conducted in a rigorous, unbiased manner. Option B is about representativeness of the sample, which is important for generalization but not the same as external validity. Option D refers to statistical power, which is important for detecting real effects but not the same as external validity.

What Is External Validity