A study exhibits internal validity when
A) its results generalize across a wide variety of settings and participant populations.
B) one can have confidence that the results of a study are due only to the effects of the independent variable.
C) it is carried out in a laboratory setting.
D) random sampling is used to select the research participants.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Internal validity refers to the extent to which a study provides evidence of a causal relationship between the independent variable and the dependent variable, without interference from extraneous variables. Thus, a study exhibits internal validity when one can have confidence that the results are due only to the effects of the independent variable. Option A refers to external validity; option C refers to settings and is not directly related to internal validity; and option D refers to sampling, which is a factor that can influence external validity, but not necessarily internal validity.

A Study Exhibits Internal Validity When