A policy analyst examines a cross-sectional study based on a random sample of households. The study accurately represents the target population but cannot confidently establish cause-and-effect relationships between variables. The study is most likely characterized by:

A cross-sectional study on a random household sample that represents the population well has strong external validity but weak internal validity.

External validity is strong because random sampling lets findings generalise to the target population.

Internal validity is weak because a cross-sectional design cannot establish cause-and-effect between variables.

Strong internal validity would require experimental control and manipulation, which this design lacks.

Treating both validities as strong or both as weak misjudges one of the two validity dimensions.

Cross-sectional data are gathered at a single point in time, so temporal order of causes cannot be fixed.