Validity refers to the extent to which a measure actually assesses the dimension or construct that the researcher sets out to measure.
Description
In psychology, "validity" refers to the extent to which a measurement or research instrument accurately measures what it claims to measure. It is a fundamental concept in psychological research and assessment, ensuring that the results obtained from a study or test are meaningful and relevant to the construct being investigated. Validity encompasses various aspects, including content validity, criterion validity, construct validity, and face validity, each assessing different facets of the measurement process. Establishing validity involves a systematic evaluation of the instrument's design, administration, and interpretation to ensure that it provides accurate and reliable information about the psychological constructs under investigation. Validity is essential for drawing accurate conclusions, making informed decisions, and ensuring the credibility and utility of psychological research and assessment tools.
Application Areas
- Psychological assessment
- Educational testing
- Clinical diagnosis
- Program evaluation
- Psychometric research
- Cross-cultural research
Treatment and Risks
- Treatment: Ensuring validity in psychological research and assessment involves rigorous methodological practices, including thorough instrument development, pilot testing, and validation studies. Researchers and practitioners employ various strategies such as expert review, factor analysis, and convergent/divergent validity assessments to establish the validity of their measures.
- Risks: The risk of validity threats arises when measurement instruments fail to accurately capture the intended constructs, leading to biased or misleading results. Common validity threats include measurement error, construct underrepresentation, and response bias, which can compromise the validity of research findings and assessment outcomes.
Examples
- A researcher develops a questionnaire to measure self-esteem and conducts a series of validation studies to ensure that the questionnaire accurately assesses the intended construct.
- A psychologist administers a neuropsychological assessment to a patient to evaluate their cognitive functioning and uses established validity criteria to interpret the test results accurately.
- A school district implements a standardized achievement test and conducts a validity study to determine whether the test accurately predicts students' academic performance.
Similar Concepts and Synonyms
- Accuracy
- Reliability
- Credibility
- Trustworthiness
- Soundness
- Authenticity
Weblinks
- quality-database.eu: 'Validity' in the glossary of the quality-database.eu
Articles with 'Validity' in the title
- Concurrent validity: Concurrent Validity refers to the extent to which test scores correlate with scores on other relevant measures administered at the same time. Concurrent Validity is the type of Validity demonstrated when scores obtained from a new measure a . . .
- Construct validity: Construct validity: Construct validity refers to the test which is demonstrated to be a measure of a job-relevant characteristic (eg. reasoning ability )
- Construct validity approach: Construct validity approach refers to an approach to test construction in which scales are developed based on a specific theory, refined using factor analysis and other procedures, and through emperical study, validated by showing that indi . . .
- Construct validity evidence: Construct validity evidence is defined as a process used to established the meaning of a test through a series of studies. To evaluate evidence for construct validity, a researcher simultaneously defines some construct and develops the inst . . .
- Construct validity of the cause: Construct validity of the cause: Construct validity of the cause refers to the extent to which the independent variable is a valid representation of the theoretical stimulus
- Construct validity of the effect: Construct validity of the effect: Construct validity of the effect refers to the extent to which the dependent variable is a valid representation of the theoretical response
- Content validity: Content validity is a test which is a representative sample of performance in some defined area of job-related knowledge, skill, ability, or other characteristic
- Criterion validity: Criterion validity refers to the extent to which a test score is related to some measure of job performance. Criterion validity demonstrates that scores are related systematically to one or more outcome criteria, either now (concurrent vali . . .
- Criterion-related validity: Criterion-related validity refers to the test which is shown to be statistically related to some criterion of successful job performance. The type of validity that involves determining the relationship (correlation) between the predictor an . . .
- Deductive validity: Deductive validity refers to a property of some logical arguments such that it is impossible for the premises to be true and the conclusion(s) to be false
- Differential validity: Differential validity refers to the characteristic of a test that significantly predicts a criterion for two (2) groups, such as both minorities and non-minorities, but predicts significantly better for one of the two (2) groups
- Discriminant validity: Discriminant validity is defined as the extent to which interview scores do not correlate with measures that are not theoretically related to the construct being measured- an assessment of whether a test is measuring what it was designed to . . .
- Divergent validity: Divergent validity is defined as a type of validity demonstrated by using two (2) different methods to measure two (2) different constructs. Then convergent validity must be shown for each of the two (2) constructs
- Ecological validity: Ecological validity refers to the degree to which particular findings in one environmental context may be considered relevant outside that context- the extent to which the findings of laboratory studies are applicable to everyday settings
- External validity: External validity refers to the degree to which findings can be generalized or extended to people, settings, times, measures, and characteristics other than the ones in the original study
- Face validity: Face validity refers to the extent to which a test seems to measure a phenomenon on face value or intuition. It is an assessment of whether a test is measuring what it claims to be measuring by inspecting the content of its items
- History as a threat to internal validity: History as a threat to internal validity : History as a threat to internal validity is a change in the dependent variable due to the occurrence of an event between the testing of levels of the independent variable
- Incremental validity: Incremental validity refers to the extent to which a scale score provides information about a person's behavior, Personality features, or psychopathology features that is not provided by other measures
- Internal validity: Internal validity refers to the certainty that experimental interventions did indeed cause the changes observed in the study group- also the control over confounding factors which tend to invalidate the results of an experiment
- Mortality as a threat to internal validity: Mortality as a threat to internal validity : Mortality as a threat to internal validity refers to a difference in the dependent variable due to differential participant attrition from groups exposed to different levels of the independent . . .
- Predictive validity: Predictive validity is the xtent to which a measure accurately forecasts how a person will think, act, and feel in the future- the extent to which test scores correlate with scores on other relevant measures administered at some point in th . . .
- Threat to validity: Threat to validity refers to any component of a research study that introduces questions or raises doubts about the quality of the research process or the accuracy of the research results
- External invalidity: External invalidity refers to the possibility that conclusions drawn from experimental results may not be generalizable to the "real" world. Please see Internal invalidity
- Invalidity: Invalidity in the context of psychology refers to a state of being perceived or feeling invalidated, where an individual's thoughts, emotions, or experiences are dismissed, ignored, or belittled by themselves or others
Summary
In psychology, validity refers to the degree to which a measurement or research instrument accurately assesses the intended construct. It is crucial for ensuring the credibility and utility of psychological research and assessment tools across various domains. Establishing validity involves rigorous methodological practices and evaluation procedures to ensure that the results obtained are meaningful and relevant to the constructs under investigation. Validity threats, such as measurement error and response bias, pose risks to the validity of research findings and assessment outcomes, highlighting the importance of ongoing validation efforts in psychological research and practice.
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