Validation and Verification are needed to add credibility to your results and conclusions, to allow your results to be used in a professional environment, and to allow for academic reproducibility and transparency.

Validation is proving that your outcomes are true and based on strong (scientific) evidence – Quality Assurance Process. Validity in research is the best available approximation to the truth of a given proposition, inference or conclusion.

Verification is proving that your method of research has been used in the way intended and is suitable for your research topic – Quality Control Process.

Types of Validity:

• Conclusion validity: in a research study, is there a relationship between two variables identified?
• Internal validity: if so is the relationship a causal one?
• Construct validity: given a causal relationship, did the operationalisation of the theoretical constructs reflect the ideal – typically were you able to measure what you wanted to capture?
• External validity: given the causal relation between the constructs of cause and effect, can you generalise this effect to other persons, cases, times or places etc.?