To quote Henry Virkler, “External validity refers to the researcher’s ability to generalize his or her findings from the research setting and sample to come to some broader population. Clearly research will have little practical use unless the findings will generalize into some real-world setting will find that some things that are threats to internal validity of an experiment are also threats to external validity.”
Threat #10 Novelty & Disruptions''New treatments generally produce hope in subjects, which may activate the placebo effect and disruption between the first testing and the subsequent ones.”
As the expression goes, “hope springs eternal.” When someone is facing his or her mortality perhaps due to terminal cancer he or she may try any and all treatments. I remember when Steve McQueen, the movie star, was dying of cancer. He went to Mexico for treatment that was not approved for use in the United States. He hoped this new treatment would save his life but unfortunately it didn't.
There often is a placebo effect when one starts on a new regiment of medication. The patient seems to improve possibly due to the optimism of the patient with the new meds. Add to that, a positive mental attitude is very important and can give an appearance of a temporary improvement. Many people turn to the healing power of prayer. I believe in miracles and I believe in the power of prayer. If it is God's will, the cancer will disappear. This will be due to the intervention of the Almighty and not due to the expectations of a new treatment.
Threat # 9 The Hawthorne Effect
Simply knowing that one is involved in an experiment may result in an invalid positive due to the subject’s desire to contribute, etc. As an aside and in my opinion the Hawthorne Effect can manifest after prayer treatment. A good friend of mine is very hard of hearing and was prayed over at church. Perhaps there was indeed some improvement as she did think so. However sadly she seems to me just as hard of hearing as ever. Having been the subject of prayer treatment I know there is the expectation that you’ll improve. After several people laid hands on me I felt pressure to not disappoint those praying for me. Actual, my neck did feel a little less painful…..
Added later:
Likely most times it is the Hawthorne Effect instead of a true healing. I managed to get enough time off from helping to care for my mother to return to my home in Arizona over the weekend. Sunday morning I went to the church I regularly attend when home, the First Baptist Church of Quartzsite, Arizona. Then in the evening I went to the local Assembly of God Church with friends. Last New Year's Eve I attended a midnight service at the Assembly of God Church and we closed out a lot of the prayer requests for 2011. Last Sunday evening The pastor passed out a number of prayer requests remaining for 2012 . Hopefully our prayers resulting in some healing. One of the prayer requests I was given was for healing from Fibromyalgia and in the other one the requester asked for healing for somebody who had hurt her child. I would suspect that this generous woman received healing herself from writing the request. As it turned out, the woman's father was in my prayer circle and he broke down in tears. We surrounded him with a circle of healing. Interesting how these things work out, a God thing.
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