Can a studys quality be evaluated with the information provided?
Every study should include a description of the population of interest, an explanation of the process used to select study subjects, definitions of key variables and concepts, descriptive statistics for main variables, and a description of the analytic techniques. Research Connections users should be cautious when drawing conclusions from studies that do not provide sufficient information about these key research components. Are there any potential threats to the study’s validity? A valid study answers research questions in a scientifically rigorous manner. Threats to a study’s validity are found in three areas: Internal Validity To determine whether a research study has internal validity, a research consumer should ask whether changes in the outcome could be attributed to alternative explanations, which are not explored in the study. For example, a study may show that a new curriculum preceded a significant increase in children’s reading comprehension. The study must rule out alternat
