GENERALIZING RESULTS: the role of external validity

Generalization the extent to which relationships between variables can be demonstrated: in other populations (across a variety of people) AND in other settings (across a variety of locales and situations)

Generalization across participants research is examining relationships between variables, and assumes that a theoretical principle will apply universally in considering generalization to other populations, know that ANY sample will be limited in some sense

Generalization across participants What characteristics of a particular sample (e.g. college students) make them different? When might these differences matter, and when might they not? an assumption is often made unless there is reason to believe otherwise

Studying college students Until recently experiments conducted with college students in the U.S. were primarily White and reflected college student population Today most samples of college students are ethnically diverse Socioeconomic status and education level are not always diverse How might NSCC fit in to this?

Cross-cultural considerations It’s important to be aware of the cultural meanings within our constructs Could people with different cultural backgrounds interpret them differently? e.g. personality

Generalization across settings consideration as to the extent to which a research finding can be generalized beyond the specific settings and method of your study different researchers can produce different behaviors in their participants (think personality, gender, experience)

Mundane and Experimental Realism Mundane realism = the extent to which the experiment bears similarity to events that occur in the real world Experimental realism= the extent to which the experiment involved/engaged the participants

Different Replication Techniques Exact Replications An attempt to replicate precisely the procedures of a study to see whether the same results are obtained Conceptual Replications An examination of the same conceptual variables but using different operational definitions of one or more of the variables

What is a Literature Review? A paper that discusses the research in a given area by: Summarizing what has been found Pointing out inconsistent findings and areas in which research is lacking Discussing future directions for research

What is a Meta-analysis? a statistical technique that combines the results of existing studies to draw conclusions relatively objective: specifies inclusion criteria which specifies which studies will or will not be included all studies that meet criteria are included in analysis

Meta-analysis examples Comparison of levels of depression among children at different ages and from different ethnic groups (Twenge and Nolen-Hoeksema, 2002) Examination of different social contexts which influence perception of others’ physical attractiveness (Schmitt, 2002)