The extent to which a study accurately reflects the causal relationship it intends to measure is known as:

The term that describes the extent to which a study accurately reflects the causal relationship it intends to measure is internal validity. Internal validity refers to the degree to which the results of a study are attributable to the manipulations made by the researcher rather than to other extraneous variables. High internal validity indicates that the study design successfully establishes a cause-and-effect relationship between variables being tested.

In experimental research, maintaining internal validity is crucial because it assures that the observed outcomes within the study are due to the specific interventions or treatments administered, while ruling out alternative explanations. This is often achieved through careful control of confounding variables, random assignment, and other methodological strategies.

Construct validity pertains to how well a test or measure represents the concept it is intended to assess, which is different from establishing causal relationships. External validity concerns the generalization of study findings to settings, people, or times beyond the specific conditions of the study. Statistical significance indicates whether the results are likely due to chance but does not confirm the presence of a causal relationship. Thus, internal validity is the appropriate term in this context.