A researcher who is studying methods of decreasing test anxiety decides to measure anxiety in a group of volunteers both before and after an experimental intervention. He finds that anxiety levels are lower after the intervention. However, when reviewing his results, the researcher notes that the first test occurred about a week before midterm exams and the second test occurred two weeks after the exams. This study appears to have a problem with ____.
a. internal validity
b. external validity
c. reliability
d. accuracy
Question 2
Following an incident in which a city's water supply was contaminated by a chemical spill, researchers carefully read online comments posted in response to news stories to gauge the public mood. They specifically look for ideas related to trust in the water company, the company responsible for the spill, and the responsible government agencies, as well as for indicators of financial stress, emotional stress, and health issues associated with the contamination. The researchers are best described as using ____.
a. thematic analysis
b. focus measures
c. self-report
d. subjective measurement