PSY 3330 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Internal Validity, Psychopathology, Dependent And Independent Variables
Document Summary
In a clinical setting, we are trying to strike a balance in the relationship between. Internal validity: how sure are we if the independent variable is causing the dependent variable. External validity: refers to the extent to which the results are applicable to population and not just that particular sample, comparing statistical and clinical significance. How likely are our results due to chance- effect size. Rather with clinical significance it is how meaningful are the results: the patient uniformity myth. By assuming that everyone will respond to a treatment the same way we forget there are individual difference. A unique individual is studied by giving a detailed biographical description of an individual. This type has low internal validity: we are not 100% confident that the event caused the disorder because we did not control for it. Also, maybe low external validity: correlational methods. Variables are measured but not manipulated: can"t determine causation.
