Which statement best describes external validity?

Which statement best describes external validity?

• A. It refers to the precision of measurement tools.
• B. It concerns the internal consistency of the manipulation.
• C. It concerns the generalizability of findings to other people and settings.
• D. It relates to the statistical power of the study.

Answer: (C)

External validity is about whether the findings can be generalized to other people, settings, and times. The best choice captures that idea by focusing on generalizability beyond the specific study sample and situation. The precision of measurement tools relates to measurement accuracy and reliability, not how broadly results apply. The internal consistency of the manipulation concerns whether the experimental conditions were applied uniformly to isolate the effect, which belongs to internal validity. Statistical power concerns the study’s ability to detect an effect given the sample size and variability, not generalizability.

External validity is about whether the findings can be generalized to other people, settings, and times. The best choice captures that idea by focusing on generalizability beyond the specific study sample and situation. The precision of measurement tools relates to measurement accuracy and reliability, not how broadly results apply. The internal consistency of the manipulation concerns whether the experimental conditions were applied uniformly to isolate the effect, which belongs to internal validity. Statistical power concerns the study’s ability to detect an effect given the sample size and variability, not generalizability.