Validity is an integrated evaluative judgment of the degree to which empirical evidence and theoretical rationales support the adequacy and appropriateness of interpretations and actions based on test scores or other modes of assessment. The principles of validity apply not just to interpretive and action inferences derived from test scores as…

Criticizes an article by Messick (1989) that emphasizes consequential validity (the potential and actual social consequences of test score interpretation and use) as a component of construct validity. Shows the profitability of separating the construct-indicator link from the indicator-score link, and the greater importance of the former.…

This study was conducted to investigate the construct validity of scores on the Personal Preferences Self-Description Questionnaire (PPSDQ), a measure of Jungian types. Confirmatory factor analysis methods were used to investigate the structures underlying PPSDQ responses of 641 university students. The model fit statistics were generally…

The usefulness of examining the structural validity of scores on multidimensional measures using nested hierarchical model comparisons was evaluated in 2 studies using the Social Problem Solving Inventory (SPSI) with samples of 464 and 216 undergraduates. Results support the conceptual model of the SPSI. (SLD)

Six distinguishable aspects of construct validity are discussed as they apply to performance assessment, emphasizing content, substantive, structural, generalizability, external, and consequential aspects. Taken together, these aspects provide a way to address validity questions in score interpretation and use. (SLD)

The psychometric properties of the Hopelessness Scale for Children (A. Kazdin et al., 1983) were examined for children and adolescents with mental retardation or a learning disability. Analyses of scores from 261 students shows a factor structure almost identical to the original structure and scale scores of adequate validity. (SLD)

The effect of different combinations of item response theory (IRT) item parameters (item difficulty, item discrimination, and the guessing probability) on the reliability and construct validity (correlation with the latent trait being measured) of pretest, posttest, and gain scores was analytically examined using the 3-parameter logistic (3PL)…

The current study evaluates existing and new validity evidence for the Academic Motivation Scale (AMS; Vallerand et al., 1992). We first provide a narrative review synthesizing past research, and then conduct a validity investigation of the scores from the measure. Data analysis using a sample of 1406 American college students provided construct…

This study was designed to address two frequent criticisms of the SAT essay--that essay length is the best predictor of scores, and that there is an advantage in using more "sophisticated" examples as opposed to personal experience. The study was based on 2,820 essays from the first three administrations of the new SAT. Each essay was…

The construct validity of content standards is addressed in terms of their representative coverage of a construct domain and their alignment with the students' cognitive level of developing expertise in the subject matter. The construct validity of performance standards is addressed in terms of the extent to which they reflect increasing levels of…

This study evaluated the reliability and construct validity of scores from the "Children's Role Inventory" (A. Potter and D. Williams, 1991). The measure specifies four roles fulfilled by children: Hero, Lost Child, Mascot, and Scapegoat. Theory and some research also suggest that adults continue to interact based on role assignments…

The convergent validity of the SPAI-C was studied by comparing scores to daily diary ratings of social distress for 10 elementary school children with social phobia, 3 of whom had overanxious disorder, and 10 controls. Results support the ability of the SPAI-C to distinguish social phobic children. (SLD)

Studied the psychometric properties of the Six-Factor Self-Concept Scale (J. Stake, 1994) in a sample of 185 racial/ethnic minority college women. Results support the reliability and construct validity of the subscale scores of the instrument and the potential usefulness of the scale for studying ethnic and cultural differences. (SLD)

The traditional concept of validity divides it into three separate types; content, criterion, and construct validities. This view is fragmented and incomplete, failing to take into account evidence of the value implications of score meaning as a basis for action and of the social consequences of score use. The new unified concept of validity…

In contrast to multiple choice, alternative modes of assessment afford varying degrees of openness in the allowable responses. Prominent among the alternatives is the assessment of performance, sometimes in its own right where the issue is the quality of the particular performance per se, but more often as a vehicle for the assessment of…