Summary
Contents
This guide explains how social scientists can evaluate the reliability and validity of empirical measurements, discussing the three basic types of validity: criterion related, content, and construct. In addition, the paper shows how reliability is assessed by the retest method, alternative-forms procedure, split-halves approach, and internal consistency method.
Validity
Validity
In Chapter 1 we defined validity as the extent to which any measuring instrument measures what it is intended to measure. However, as we pointed out in Chapter 1, strictly speaking, “One validates, not a test, but an interpretation of data arising from a specified procedure” (Cronbach, 1971: 447). The distinction is central to validation because it is quite ...