What is the degree to which a test measures what it claims to be measuring?

What is the degree to which a test measures what it claims to be measuring?

• A. Construct validity
• B. Reliability
• C. Face validity
• D. Content validity

Answer: (A)

The degree to which a test measures what it claims to be measuring is about whether the test truly assesses the theoretical attribute it’s designed to capture. This is construct validity. It goes beyond simply being consistent (reliability) or just looking like it fits the topic (face validity) or covering the right topics (content validity). Construct validity asks whether the test scores behave in ways that the theory about the construct would predict. For example, the measure should relate to other established measures of the same construct (convergent validity), not relate to unrelated traits (discriminant validity), show the expected underlying structure (factorial validity), and predict outcomes the construct should forecast (criterion validity). In short, construct validity evaluates whether the test really measures the intended concept, not just whether it is reliable or superficially appropriate.

The degree to which a test measures what it claims to be measuring is about whether the test truly assesses the theoretical attribute it’s designed to capture. This is construct validity. It goes beyond simply being consistent (reliability) or just looking like it fits the topic (face validity) or covering the right topics (content validity). Construct validity asks whether the test scores behave in ways that the theory about the construct would predict. For example, the measure should relate to other established measures of the same construct (convergent validity), not relate to unrelated traits (discriminant validity), show the expected underlying structure (factorial validity), and predict outcomes the construct should forecast (criterion validity). In short, construct validity evaluates whether the test really measures the intended concept, not just whether it is reliable or superficially appropriate.