Suppose a cereal manufacturer tries out a new cereal box design for a few months, and-during the same time period-notices that its sales have tripled. One of the cereal executives, Mr. Correl, boasts that the new cereal box must have sparked the increase in sales. But another executive, Mr. Scien, points out that the increase could be due to the new advertising campaign that the company is using, or new distribution practices that have taken place, or to the fact that more and more people are eating cereal these days. That is, Mr. Scien suggests that the company's "test" of the new cereal box design is low in ____.
A)operationalizing
B)generalizability
C)internal validity
D)external validity

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Mr. Scien's concern highlights the issue of internal validity, which refers to the degree to which a study can establish a causal relationship between variables. In this case, the concern is whether the increase in sales can be directly attributed to the new cereal box design, given the presence of other confounding variables such as a new advertising campaign, new distribution practices, and a general increase in cereal consumption.

Suppose a Cereal Manufacturer Tries Out a New Cereal Box