Jeanette is conducting an experimental study of memory. She has recruited a sample of A-Level students and given them a word-learning task. They first do the task while music is playing and then in silence. She has operationalised memory in terms of the number of words recalled from the learning task.

Identify the features of the study that threaten its validity (e.g. a poor sample)

Explain the impact these features might have had (e.g. limiting generalisability)

Assess the seriousness and/or likelihood of this impact

Internal Validity Were variables properly operationalised? Were extraneous variables adequately controlled? Were researcher effects and demand characteristics addressed?

External Validity Was the sample representative of the target population? Did the setting (and the task used) resemble the setting/tasks to which researchers wished to generalise?

Make a note of (1) what the feature is; (2) the type of validity it threatens and the effect it might have; and (3) how serious a flaw you judge it to be.