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Research Psychology > Psychometrics: validity > Flashcards

Psychometrics: validity Flashcards

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1
Q

What is validity?

A

refers to whether or not a test measures what it intends to measure

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2
Q

aim of establishing validity

A

to be able to make accurate inferences from scores on a test and to give meaning to test scores
-indicates the usefulness of a test

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3
Q

relationship between validity and reliabiliy

A

if a test is not valid, no point in testing reliability

-if a test is not reliable, it is not valid

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4
Q

4 types of validity

A
  1. face validity
  2. content validity
  3. criterion validity
  4. construct validity
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5
Q

Face Validity

A
  • when a test seems on the surface to measure what it is supposed to measure
  • can have a good face validity but not really be a valid test
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6
Q

how face validity is measured

A
  • researchers simply look at the items and give their opinion if the items appear to measure what they are trying to.
  • least scientific
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7
Q

4 sectors of evaluating face validity

A
  1. readability
  2. layout and style
  3. clarity of wording
  4. feasability
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8
Q

disadvantages of face validity

A
  • many dont consider this is a measure of validity at all
  • does not refer to what is actually being measured rather than what it appears to measure
  • determined through review and not statistical analysis
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9
Q

Content validity

A
  • the degree to which a test measure an intended content area
  • non-statistical
  • Do the questions/items on a test make up a representative sample of the attribute the test is supposed to measure
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10
Q

how to reach content validity

A
  1. Specifying the content area covered by the phenomenon when developing the construct definition
  2. Writing questionnaire or scale items that are relevant to each of the content areas
  3. Developing a measure of the construct that includes the best (most representative) items from each content area
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11
Q

construct under-representation (aspect of content validity)

A

the test does not capture nb components of the ocnstruct

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12
Q

construct irrelevant-variance (aspect of content validity)

A

when test scores are influenced by things other than the construct the test is supposed to measure

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13
Q

How is content validity established?

A
  • judgement by expert judges
  • -content validity=number of relevant items/total number of items
  • can also use statistical methods like factor analysis
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14
Q

Criterion validity

A
  • how well a test score estimates/predicts a criterion behaviour or outcome, now or in the future
  • eg. depression inventory
  • easy for ability tests but hard for personality/attitude tests
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15
Q

Why would we be interested in using criterions to create a new measurement procedure?

A
  1. Create a shorter version of a well-established measure
  2. To account for a new context, location and/or culture
  3. To help test the theoretical relatedness of a well-established measurement procedure
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16
Q

concurrent validity

A
  • the extent to which test scores can correctly identify the current state of individuals
  • Measure concurrent criterion validity by correlating scores on our new test to scores on an already established test
17
Q

predictive validity

A
  • do scores on a test predict a future event successfully?
  • the test is the predictor
  • the future event is the criterion
18
Q

How is Criterion Validity Evaluated?

A
  1. correlation coefficients
  2. coefficient of determination (the square of the validity coefficient)
  3. Standard error of estimate (SEE)- high see= greater deviation of criterion scores from predicted criterion scores (bad)
  4. success ratio (SR) - the proportion of predicted successes on the criterion that turned out to actually be successful
19
Q

Construct validity

A

-It is something that we think exists, but is not directly observable or measurable
e.g., we can directly measure 10ml of water – water is directly observable and measurable
BUT we cannot directly measure 10ml of depression – depression is a construct, it is not directly observable and measurable

20
Q

How do we measure constructs?

A
  1. we look at the relationship between the construct and other constructs
  2. What observable behaviours can we expect if a person has a high (or low) score on a test measuring this construct?
21
Q

The relationships between one construct and others

A
  • look for convergent validity evidence AND divergent/discriminant validity evidence
  • for a test to have good validity, it needs to have both convergent AND discriminant validity evidence
22
Q

Convergent validity

A

Scores on a test have high correlations with other tests that measure the similar constructs
e.g., Depression tests should correlate highly with tests of sadness, or anxiety

23
Q

Discriminant validity (divergent)

A

Scores on a test have low correlations with other tests that measure different constructs
e.g., A questionnaire on racism should have little or no correlation with gender, for example

24
Q

Criterion-groups validity

A
  • groups that are expected to differ should score differently on tests
  • e.g., people with autism should score differently on scale of empathy than those with high empathy (e.g. counsellors)
25
Q

Validity for Criterion-Referenced Tests

A
  • Criterion-referenced tests compare performance with some clearly defined criterion for learning
  • Are often ‘high stakes’ tests – e.g., pass a test before you can practice in some discipline, like being an electrician etc.
  • Measure proficiency in something – this ranges from no proficiency at all to perfect proficiency
26
Q

Establishing Validity for Criterion-Referenced Tests

A
  1. Compare scores on a test before and after the program of instructions
  2. Compare scores on the test with scores on a test related to the criterion
27
Q

factors affecting validity

A
  1. reliability (Can have reliability without validity BUT must demonstrate reliability before validity)
  2. social diversity (tests may not be equally valid for different social/cultural groups)
  3. variability

Research Psychology (6 decks)

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