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External Validity
External validity is the validity of applying the conclusions of a scientific study outside the context of that study. In other words, it is the extent to which the results of a study can generalize or transport to other situations, people, stimuli, and times.Aronson, E., Wilson, T. D., Akert, R. M., & Fehr, B. (2007). Social psychology. (4 ed.). Toronto, ON: Pearson Education. Generalizability refers to the applicability of a predefined sample to a broader population while transportability refers to the applicability of one sample to another target population. In contrast, internal validity is the validity of conclusions drawn ''within'' the context of a particular study. Mathematical analysis of external validity concerns a determination of whether generalization across heterogeneous populations is feasible, and devising statistical and computational methods that produce valid generalizations. In establishing external validity, scholars tend to identify the "scope" of the study ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Internal Validity
Internal validity is the extent to which a piece of evidence supports a claim about cause and effect, within the context of a particular study. It is one of the most important properties of scientific studies and is an important concept in reasoning about evidence more generally. Internal validity is determined by how well a study can rule out alternative explanations for its findings (usually, sources of systematic error or 'bias'). It contrasts with external validity, the extent to which results can justify conclusions about other contexts (that is, the extent to which results can be generalized). Both internal and external validity can be described using qualitative or quantitative forms of causal notation. Details Inferences are said to possess internal validity if a causal relationship between two variables is properly demonstrated.Shadish, W., Cook, T., and Campbell, D. (2002). Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Designs for Generilized Causal Inference Boston:Houghton M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cover-up
A cover-up is an attempt, whether successful or not, to conceal evidence of wrongdoing, error, incompetence, or other embarrassing information. Research has distinguished personal cover-ups (covering up one's own misdeeds) from relational cover-ups (covering up someone else's misdeeds). The expression is usually applied to people in positions of authority who abuse power to avoid or silence criticism or to deflect guilt of wrongdoing. Perpetrators of a cover-up (initiators or their allies) may be responsible for a misdeed, a breach of trust or duty, or a crime. Definitions and related terms While the terms are often used loosely, ''cover-up'' involves withholding incriminatory evidence, while '' whitewash'' involves releasing misleadingly exculpatory evidence, and a '' frameup'' involves falsely blaming an innocent person. Misprision is the failure of mandated reporters to disclose crimes they are aware of (e.g., a military officer failing to proactively report evid ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Transfer Learning
Transfer learning (TL) is a technique in machine learning (ML) in which knowledge learned from a task is re-used in order to boost performance on a related task. For example, for image classification, knowledge gained while learning to recognize cars could be applied when trying to recognize trucks. This topic is related to the psychological literature on transfer of learning, although practical ties between the two fields are limited. Reusing/transferring information from previously learned tasks to new tasks has the potential to significantly improve learning efficiency. Since transfer learning makes use of training with multiple objective functions it is related to cost-sensitive machine learning and multi-objective optimization. History In 1976, Bozinovski and Fulgosi published a paper addressing transfer learning in neural network training. The paper gives a mathematical and geometrical model of the topic. In 1981, a report considered the application of transfer learni ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Statistical Conclusion Validity
Statistical conclusion validity is the degree to which conclusions about the relationship among variables based on the data are correct or "reasonable". This began as being solely about whether the statistical conclusion about the relationship of the variables was correct, but now there is a movement towards moving to "reasonable" conclusions that use: quantitative, statistical, and qualitative data. Fundamentally, two types of errors can occur: type I (finding a difference or correlation when none exists) and type II (finding no difference or correlation when one exists). Statistical conclusion validity concerns the qualities of the study that make these types of errors more likely. Statistical conclusion validity involves ensuring the use of adequate sampling procedures, appropriate statistical tests, and reliable measurement procedures. Common threats The most common threats to statistical conclusion validity are: Low statistical power Power is the probability of correctl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Content Validity
In psychometrics, content validity (also known as logical validity) refers to the extent to which a measure represents all facets of a given construct. For example, a depression scale may lack content validity if it only assesses the affective dimension of depression but fails to take into account the behavioral dimension. An element of subjectivity exists in relation to determining content validity, which requires a degree of agreement about what a particular personality trait such as extraversion represents. A disagreement about a personality trait will prevent the gain of a high content validity. Description Content validity is different from face validity, which refers not to what the test actually measures, but to what it superficially appears to measure. Face validity assesses whether the test "looks valid" to the examinees who take it, the administrative personnel who decide on its use, and other technically untrained observers. Content validity requires the use of reco ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Construct Validity
Construct validity concerns how well a set of indicators represent or reflect a concept that is not directly measurable. ''Construct validation'' is the accumulation of evidence to support the interpretation of what a measure reflects.Polit DF Beck CT (2012). Nursing Research: Generating and Assessing Evidence for Nursing Practice, 9th ed. Philadelphia, USA: Wolters Klower Health, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Modern validity theory defines construct validity as the overarching concern of validity research, subsuming all other types of validity evidence such as content validity and criterion validity. Construct validity is the appropriateness of inferences made on the basis of observations or measurements (often test scores), specifically whether a test can reasonably be considered to reflect the intended construct. Constructs are abstractions that are deliberately created by researchers in order to conceptualize the latent variable, which is correlated with scores on a given me ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Field Experiments
Field experiments are experiments carried out outside of laboratory settings. They randomization, randomly assign subjects (or other sampling units) to either treatment or control groups to test claims of causality, causal relationships. Random assignment helps establish the comparability of the treatment and control group so that any differences between them that emerge after the treatment has been administered plausibly reflect the influence of the treatment rather than pre-existing differences between the groups. The distinguishing characteristics of field experiments are that they are conducted in real-world settings and often unobtrusively and control not only the subject pool but selection and overtness, as defined by leaders such as John A. List. This is in contrast to laboratory experiments, which enforce scientific control by testing a hypothesis in the artificial and highly controlled setting of a laboratory. Field experiments have some contextual differences as well ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Meta-analysis
Meta-analysis is a method of synthesis of quantitative data from multiple independent studies addressing a common research question. An important part of this method involves computing a combined effect size across all of the studies. As such, this statistical approach involves extracting effect sizes and variance measures from various studies. By combining these effect sizes the statistical power is improved and can resolve uncertainties or discrepancies found in individual studies. Meta-analyses are integral in supporting research grant proposals, shaping treatment guidelines, and influencing health policies. They are also pivotal in summarizing existing research to guide future studies, thereby cementing their role as a fundamental methodology in metascience. Meta-analyses are often, but not always, important components of a systematic review. History The term "meta-analysis" was coined in 1976 by the statistician Gene V. Glass, Gene Glass, who stated ''"Meta-analysis refers t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Replication (scientific Method)
Reproducibility, closely related to replicability and repeatability, is a major principle underpinning the scientific method. For the findings of a study to be reproducible means that results obtained by an experiment or an observational study or in a statistical analysis of a data set should be achieved again with a high degree of reliability when the study is replicated. There are different kinds of replication but typically replication studies involve different researchers using the same methodology. Only after one or several such successful replications should a result be recognized as scientific knowledge. History The first to stress the importance of reproducibility in science was the Anglo-Irish chemist Robert Boyle, in England in the 17th century. Boyle's air pump was designed to generate and study vacuum, which at the time was a very controversial concept. Indeed, distinguished philosophers such as René Descartes and Thomas Hobbes denied the very possibility of vacuum ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Psychological Realism
In literature, psychological fiction (also psychological realism) is a narrative genre that emphasizes interior characterization and motivation to explore the spiritual, emotional, and mental lives of its characters. The mode of narration examines the reasons for the behaviours of the character, which propel the plot and explain the story. Psychological realism is achieved with deep explorations and explanations of the mental states of the character's inner person, usually through narrative modes such as stream of consciousness and flashbacks. Early examples Yingying's Biography by Yuan Zhen, written in 9th-century Tang China, is a pioneering work of psychological fiction in the form of a short story ( ''chuanqi''). ''The Tale of Genji'' by Lady Murasaki, written in 11th-century Japan, was and is considered by many, including Jorge Luis Borges, as the first full-length psychological novel. French theorists Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, in ''A Thousand Plateaus'', eva ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dependent And Independent Variables
A variable is considered dependent if it depends on (or is hypothesized to depend on) an independent variable. Dependent variables are studied under the supposition or demand that they depend, by some law or rule (e.g., by a mathematical function), on the values of other variables. Independent variables, on the other hand, are not seen as depending on any other variable in the scope of the experiment in question. Rather, they are controlled by the experimenter. In pure mathematics In mathematics, a function (mathematics), function is a rule for taking an input (in the simplest case, a number or set of numbers)Carlson, Robert. A concrete introduction to real analysis. CRC Press, 2006. p.183 and providing an output (which may also be a number). A symbol that stands for an arbitrary input is called an independent variable, while a symbol that stands for an arbitrary output is called a dependent variable. The most common symbol for the input is , and the most common symbol for the o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mundane Realism
In subcultural and fictional uses, a mundane is a person who does not belong to a particular group, according to the members of that group; the implication is that such persons, lacking imagination, are concerned solely with the mundane: the quotidian and ordinary. The term first came into use in science fiction fandom to refer, sometimes deprecatingly, to non-fans; this use of the term antedates 1955. Etymology Mundane came originally from the Latin '' mundus'', meaning ordinary and worldly as opposed to spiritual, and has been in use in English since the 15th century. In popular culture Some Western cultural examples include: * In Cassandra Clare's book series ''The Mortal Instruments'' and '' The Infernal Devices'', humans who were not Shadowhunters nor Downworlders were referred to as "mundanes". * In fantasy literature the term is sometimes used to apply to non- magical people or the non-magical society. It is used in Piers Anthony's Xanth novels and Bill Willingham' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
