External validity in program evaluation refers to generalizability to other settings, populations, and times.

External validity in program evaluation refers to generalizability to other settings, populations, and times.

• A. True
• B. False
• C. Sometimes
• D. Not specified

Answer: (A)

External validity is about whether the findings from a program evaluation will apply beyond the specific study context. The statement is true because external validity focuses on generalizing results to other settings, other groups of people, and other times. Understanding this helps distinguish it from internal validity, which is about whether the observed effects are truly caused by the intervention within the study itself. Think of evaluating a school program tested in one district. External validity asks: would we expect similar effects in different schools, with students who differ in demographics, or if the program is run in a different year or under different conditions? Designers enhance external validity by using diverse settings and representative samples, and by replicating findings across contexts. The other options don’t fit because the standard idea is that external validity concerns generalizability across settings, populations, and times, not that it’s false, unspecified, or only sometimes.

External validity is about whether the findings from a program evaluation will apply beyond the specific study context. The statement is true because external validity focuses on generalizing results to other settings, other groups of people, and other times. Understanding this helps distinguish it from internal validity, which is about whether the observed effects are truly caused by the intervention within the study itself.

Think of evaluating a school program tested in one district. External validity asks: would we expect similar effects in different schools, with students who differ in demographics, or if the program is run in a different year or under different conditions? Designers enhance external validity by using diverse settings and representative samples, and by replicating findings across contexts.

The other options don’t fit because the standard idea is that external validity concerns generalizability across settings, populations, and times, not that it’s false, unspecified, or only sometimes.