Researchers in the social sciences are often in fundamental disagreement about what constitutes validity. Much emphasis has been given to increasing validity through the application of various techniques. Brinberg and McGrath point out that research is not advanced by these diverse concepts of validity nor the uniform stress on technical applications to attain it. Instead, they propose a new way of viewing validity issues -- an abstract and complex set of logical relationships that they call the Validity Network Schema, or VNS.In essence, VNS distinguishes between three 'domains' of the research process (substantive, conceptual, and methodological) and three 'stages' of it (validity as value, validity as correspondence, and validity as robustness).The authors draw their examples from their own areas of expertise: social psychology, consumer behaviour, and organizational research. They present a comprehensive view of the research process that ties together previously separate views of validity. Glossaries at the end of each chapter ensure that the VNS terminology is clearly understood.

Validity and the Research Process PDF

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