Internal validity refers to the extent to which it is possible to make an inference that the

independent variable, rather than another factor, is truly causing variation in the outcome
[ CITATION Pol173 \l 1033 ]. In other words, internal validity refers to how well an experiment is
done. It is how well a piece of research allows you to choose among alternate explanations of
something.
The study selected this week was “An Intervention Program to Promote Health-Related
Physical Fitness in Nurses.” This is a quasi-experimental study to assess the effects of exercise
intervention on nurses’ health-related physical fitness. The two groups, experimental group and
control group, consisted of forty-five nurses. After adjusting for confounding variables
(marriage, work duration, exercise habits, and workload), the experimental group performed
better than the control group in all six fitness indicators In the end, Yuan concluded, it is
important for hospitals to design an exercise area in the workplace that provides nurses with an
accessible place to exercise and where they can find partners easily, which in turn should
increase their willingness to exercise [ CITATION Yua09 \l 1033 ].
One way the study could be strengthened, is to make the control group and the
experimental group more similar. They should have close to the same lifestyles. Most of the
subjects in the experimental group were married and felt they had a heavier workload than those
in the control group [ CITATION Yua09 \l 1033 ]. Another way to strengthen the study is to make
sure everything in their life is kept the same. Some of the participants could have changed their
diet which could alter the study.

References
Polit, D. F., & Beck, C. T. (2017). Nursing research: Generating and assessing evidence for nursing
practice (10 ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Wolters Kluwer.

Yuan, S., Chou, M., Hwu, L., Chang, Y., Hsu, W., & Kuo, H. (2009). An intervention program to promote
health-related physical fitness in nurses. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 18(10), 1,404–1,411.