Internal validity is the level of control or rigor of any research design. The degree of control assumed on possible extraneous variables establishes the internal validity levels. More so, controlling possible confounding variables reduces the potential for unusual explanations on the effects of treatment, and offers confidence on effects caused by independent variables (Marion & Jolaine, 2001). Some of the threats to internal validity include history, which involves unplanned events that happen between measurements. These events are usually unrelated to the study but are likely to affect the outcome. History as a threat to internal validity, can be reduced by applying a concurrent control group in the study. The second threat is maturation, which entails changes that occur in respondents over time but are not related to particular events. This threat can be reduced through randomization in the selection of participants. The third threat is regression to mean, where the selected respondents are chosen based on low or high performance, hence it is closer to the mean on subsequent testing. Thus, to reduce this threat to internal validity, the researcher can use a control group, where the assignment of participants is founded on baseline performance (Beckman & David, 2008). The fourth threat to internal validity entails changes that occur in scoring rubric or calibration of data collection instruments. This threat can also be reduced by the use of a control group, which helps to unveil issues arising in the instrument. Pre-testing can also be a source of an internal threat since participants tend to be familiar with questions that will be asked, hence heightening awareness and defensiveness. To reduce this threat, the researcher can skip pre-test in some cases or ensure that the groups used in the pre-test are eliminated in the main study. The sixth threat to internal validity is respondents’ motivation and attitude. This entails participants losing interest in the study. It is notable that learners who are involved in a survey that they consider novel tend to be more motivated than the comparison group. To reduce this threat, the researcher can blind respondents to the hypothesis of the study (Beckman & David, 2008). Therefore, a researcher needs to anticipate internal validity and reduce it before conducting the research.
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