On a parting note, a good understanding of the concepts of internal, external, and ecological validity is necessary to properly design and conduct studies and to evaluate the merits and applications of published research. In the context of quantitative research, reliability is a quality assessment factor that determines whether the findings will be the same if the research is repeated multiple times under the same conditions. Validity encompasses the entire experimental concept and establishes whether the results obtained meet all of the requirements of the scientific research. How much less ecological validity, then, would research in animal models of different neuropsychiatric states have for patients in clinical practice? This explains why drugs that work in animal models often fail in humans. Following a chapter on objectivity, the authors discuss the role of reliability and validity and the problems that arise when these issues are neglected. What Is Reliability in Research The term reliability refers to consistency in general English. Reliability refers to the consistency of the results in research. Assessment of the quality of research helps in gauging how the research was meaningful in contributing to the effective understanding of the topic of study.

In fact, these cognitive and psychomotor tests, especially when based on computerized tasks, have no parallel in everyday life. Thus, laboratory studies of the neuropsychological and psychomotor impairments produced by psychotropic drugs have poor ecological validity because what is studied in relaxed, rested, and healthy subjects tested in a controlled environment is very different from demands that stressed patients face in everyday life. Ecological validity was originally invoked in the context of laboratory studies that required to be generalized to real-life situations. Reliability refers to how consistently a method measures something.

Reliability in research