Abstract
Wright (1983) questions the use of hypothetical situations as stimulus material in recent research exploring attributions to supernatural causality. He advocates the use of behavioral settings in such research, and suggests that hypothetical situations be standardized when they are used. While attributional research could benefit substantially from use of behavioral settings, threats to internal and external validity can best be overcome, not by reliance on a single research method, but by use of a variety of different methods. The stimulus material presented to subjects in the typical attribution experiment can be divided into two components, a narrative description and one or more questions about this description. Establishing validity of these elements involves separate, though related, sets of problems.
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