Identifying and Dealing with Validity Threats (Exercise 6.1)

Validity is something that all researchers must consider when conducting research. In a sense, validity poses the question, “Are we sure the results that we conclude from our observation in fact mirror reality?” Many issues in research can delegitimize the internal and external validity of research. A careful consideration of certain aspects of data collection before observation can mitigate many of the concerns relevant to internal and external invalidity in research.

Many concerns related to validity arise and must be considered at the fore of research projects that examine the topic of cyberbullying. Because bullying is considered an antisocial behavior for both bully and victim, social desirability is something that must be appreciated prior to research. Bullies may deny engaging in behaviors, rebuff the intent of their actions, or artificially trivialize the effect the bullying had on the victim. They may also refute the reflexivity of bullying event. Victims might also minimize the effects of the bullying as a display of strength and to overcome intrapersonal feelings of victimization. To handle threats of social desirability, I could frame the goals of the research project as how they think the “generalized person” who is cyberbullied would be affected by the experience. Depersonalizing the questions allow for more honest answers given that the responses do not implicate the self in relation to the event.

Reactivity might be a validity threat given that the amalgam of research demonstrates children and adolescents’ unwillingness to consult adults for advice or help on cyberbullying victimization. It may be that people will not speak openly about the experience because they fear reprisal from the bully or limitations to their freedoms (e.g., limited cell phone use) by their parents. The goal early in a semi-structured interview would be to engage in trust-building exercises that talk about less “dangerous information” and move toward more sensitive topics. In this way, children and adolescents will be allowed to warm up to the occasion and the researcher.

Lastly, in following a cohort of victims over time to investigate the longitudinal effects of the cyberbullying experience, researchers must consider maturation of the participants in interpreting the effects over time. As children and adolescents grow older, their long-term ability to cope with the victimization is confounded by the natural processes they are going through as they become older. In interpreting data collected from children and adolescents on psychological and social behaviors, it is necessary to recognize what has become known from the developmental psychology literature on maturation and interpret the study’s results aside these findings.