What Is Generalizability? | Definition & Examples
Generalizability is the degree to which you can apply the results of your study to a broader context. Research results are considered generalizable when the findings can be applied to most contexts, most people, most of the time.
Do the people who agree to help you with your survey accurately represent all the people in your city? Probably not. This means that your study can’t be considered generalizable.
Generalizability is determined by how representative your sample is of the target population. This is known as external validity.
What is generalizability?
The goal of research is to produce knowledge that can be applied as widely as possible. However, since it usually isn’t possible to analyze every member of a population, researchers make do by analyzing a portion of it, making statements about that portion.
To be able to apply these statements to larger groups, researchers must ensure that the sample accurately resembles the broader population.
In other words, the sample and the population must share the characteristics relevant to the research being conducted. When this happens, the sample is considered representative, and by extension, the study’s results are considered generalizable.
In general, a study has good generalizability when the results apply to many different types of people or different situations. In contrast, if the results can only be applied to a subgroup of the population or in a very specific situation, the study has poor generalizability.
Why is generalizability important?
Obtaining a representative sample is crucial for probability sampling. In contrast, studies using non-probability sampling designs are more concerned with investigating a few cases in depth, rather than generalizing their findings. As such, generalizability is the main difference between probability and non-probability samples.
There are three factors that determine the generalizability of your study in a probability sampling design:
- The randomness of the sample, with each research unit (e.g., person, business, or organization in your population) having an equal chance of being selected.
- How representative the sample is of your population.
- The size of your sample, with larger samples more likely to yield statistically significant results.
Increasing sample diversity can help researchers develop theories of human nature that reliably explain human behavior across countries and cultures instead of among only a thin slice of humanity.
Generalizability is one of the three criteria (along with validity and reliability) that researchers use to assess the quality of both quantitative and qualitative research. However, depending on the type of research, generalizability is interpreted and evaluated differently.
- In quantitative research, generalizability helps to make inferences about the population.
- In qualitative research, generalizability helps to compare the results to other results from similar situations.
Examples of generalizability
Generalizability is crucial for establishing the validity and reliability of your study. In most cases, a lack of generalizability significantly narrows down the scope of your research—i.e., to whom the results can be applied.
Luckily, you have access to an anonymized list of all residents. This allows you to establish a sampling frame and proceed with simple random sampling. With the help of an online random number generator, you draw a simple random sample.
After obtaining your results (and prior to drawing any conclusions) you need to consider the generalizability of your results. Using an online sample calculator, you see that the ideal sample size is 341. With a sample of 341, you could be confident that your results are generalizable, but a sample of 100 is too small to be generalizable.
This limitation of your research should be mentioned in your discussion section.
However, research results that cannot be generalized can still have value. It all depends on your research objectives.
You go to the museum for three consecutive Sundays to make observations.
Your observations yield valuable insights for the Getty Museum, and perhaps even for other museums with similar educational offerings.
However, you can’t claim that your findings represent all the families that visit museums in the country, or even in your city. As you collected a convenience sample, your study results are not generalizable. Nevertheless, in this case, that was not the goal of your research. Your results can still be considered valid for the context in which they were studied.
Types of generalizability
There are two broad types of generalizability:
- Statistical generalizability, which applies to quantitative research
- Theoretical generalizability (also referred to as transferability), which applies to qualitative research
Statistical generalizability is critical for quantitative research. The goal of quantitative research is to develop general knowledge that applies to all the units of a population while studying only a subset of these units (sample). Statistical generalization is achieved when you study a sample that accurately mirrors characteristics of the population. The sample needs to be sufficiently large and unbiased.
In qualitative research, statistical generalizability is not relevant. This is because qualitative research is primarily concerned with obtaining insights on some aspect of human experience, rather than data with solid statistical basis. By studying individual cases, researchers will try to get results that they can extend to similar cases. This is known as theoretical generalizability or transferability.
How do you ensure generalizability in research?
In order to apply your findings on a larger scale, you should take the following steps to ensure your research has sufficient generalizability.
- Define your population in detail. By doing so, you will establish what it is that you intend to make generalizations about. For example, are you going to discuss students in general, or students on your campus?
- Use random sampling. If the sample is truly random (i.e., everyone in the population is equally likely to be chosen for the sample), then you can avoid sampling bias and ensure that the sample will be representative of the population.
- Consider the size of your sample. The sample size must be large enough to support the generalization being made. If the sample represents a smaller group within that population, then the conclusions have to be downsized in scope.
- If you’re conducting qualitative research, try to reach a saturation point of important themes and categories. This way, you will have sufficient information to account for all aspects of the phenomenon under study.
After completing your research, take a moment to reflect on the generalizability of your findings. What didn’t go as planned and could impact your generalizability? For example, selection biases such as non-response bias can affect your results. Explain how generalizable your results are, as well as possible limitations, in the discussion section of your research paper.
Frequently asked questions about generalizability
- Why is generalizability important in research?
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Generalizability is important because it allows researchers to make inferences for a large group of people, i.e., the target population, by only studying a part of it (the sample).
- What is the difference between internal and external validity?
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Internal validity is the degree of confidence that the causal relationship you are testing is not influenced by other factors or variables.
External validity is the extent to which your results can be generalized to other contexts.
The validity of your experiment depends on your experimental design.
- What goes in the discussion chapter of a dissertation?
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In the discussion, you explore the meaning and relevance of your research results, explaining how they fit with existing research and theory. Discuss:
- Your interpretations: what do the results tell us?
- The implications: why do the results matter?
- The limitations: what can’t the results tell us?
Sources in this article
We strongly encourage students to use sources in their work. You can cite our article (APA Style) or take a deep dive into the articles below.
This Scribbr articleNikolopoulou, K. (October 8, 2022). What Is Generalizability? | Definition & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved October 17, 2022, from https://www.scribbr.com/research-bias/generalizability/
