Understanding the concept of external validity A way to bridge the gap between research and practice?
Sammanfattning
The increasing demand for evidence-based practice has put focus on the gap
between research and practice. The overall aim of this study is to contribute to
enhanced research relevance by increasing the understanding of the concept of
external validity. This thesis analyses scientific articles that discusses the concept of
external validity, through the lens of ANT and its concept translation of scientific
facts. The study shows that there are several definitions of external validity
expressed in the scientific literature. External validity is defined as both
generalisability and as a question of relevance. When problems and solutions are in
focus external validity is addressed in terms of research’s lack of relevance. The
results of this study indicate that a way to make research more useful in practice is
to give the question of external validity greater attention, in terms of methodology
as well as epistemology. While further epistemological investigations is necessary
for deepening the understanding of the phenomena, methodological development
could possibly focus on how to incorporate more practice relevant properties early
in the research process, the purpose being to create more and stronger links between
the attributes of internal and external validity.
Examinationsnivå
Student essay