|
- Validity:
Do the indicators correspond to the concepts they are
supposed to measure?
- Scholars
have elaborated different "forms" of validity and
proposals for testing:
- face
validity
- --easiest
test to pass: does the method seem valid on its
face?
- --e.g.,
are pastors' recommendations a valid measure of
academic potential?
- content
validity
- --do
the items cover the range of the attribute being
measured?
- --e.g.,
an academic potential test should include reading,
writing, mathematics, and reasoning
- criterion
validity
- --an
academic potential test should predict to academic
performance
- --must
have an external measure (criterion) of academic
performance
- construct
validity--infers validity from theoretical
relationships, e.g., academic potential
- --academic
potential might be expected to relate to such
external variables as
- record
of reliability in employment
- lack
of a police record
- --academic
potential might be expected to relate to such
internal variables as
- ability
to work independently
- ability
to withstand criticism
- discriminant
validity--the scale should be distinguishable from
other concepts*
- --academic potential should
differ for students from the same
school
- --academic potential should
differ from potential for business
*For the classic paper on discriminant validity, see
Donald T. Campbell and Donald W. Fiske, "Convergent and
Discriminant Validation by the Multitrait-Multimethod
Matrix," Psychological Bulletin, 56 (March, 1959),
81-105. This is one of the most frequently cited articles
in the social science literature.
|