Experiments Are Often Conducted in Public Health Research Where a Distinction

question 37

Essay

Experiments are often conducted in public health research where a distinction is made between an efficacy experiment and an effectiveness experiment. Efficacy experiments focus on whether a new health program works under ideal conditions; effectiveness experiments test the program under typical conditions that health professionals encounter in their day-to-day work. Discuss how efficacy experiments and effectiveness experiments reflect concerns about internal validity threats on the one hand and generalizability on the other.

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Definitions:

Random Fluctuation

Unpredictable changes or variations that do not follow a discernable pattern or trend.

School Performance

The measurement of a student's academic achievement based on grades, tests, and other criteria.

Glass Ceiling

An invisible barrier preventing minorities and women from rising to upper levels of management or leadership despite their qualifications.

Top-down Barrier

Obstacles to progress or communication that originate from higher levels in a hierarchical structure, affecting those at lower levels.