Unitary View of Validity

Validity is a fundamental aspect of evaluation and testing, especially for high-stakes testing for promotion, graduation, and competency. The concept of validity has been the subject of inquiry and debate over the past century. Many authors have studied this complex concept and attempted to define its components. The discussions and controversies about the meaning of validity and its components have continued, and our understanding about validity has substantially evolved. The question in defining validity is whether a test measures the variable for which it was intended.

The early approach toward validity was criterion based, which assumes there is a definitive value for each variable of interest and the goal of [Page 1752]assessment is to measure this variable as accurately as possible. Therefore, criterion-based validity is used ...