Test Validity

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In research, reliability refers to the how consistent an instrument measures an outcome for a specific study. In other words, if a person takes the same anxiety test on several different occasions and the results are consistent, the anxiety test is deemed reliable. Researchers use four different methods to test reliability: test-retest reliability, alternate-forms reliability, interrater reliability, and homogeneity or internal consistency reliability (Grove, Gray, & Burns, 2015, p. 289). Test-retest reliability involves administering a tool “to the same person or a group of people, in the same way, on two or more different occasions, hours or days apart” (Vaz, Flakmer, Passmore, Parsons, & Andreou, 2013, para. 2). If the results do not change between the administrations, then the test is considered reliable. Alternate forms …show more content…

The four different methods of measuring validity are content validity, evidence of validity from contrasting groups, evidence of validity from convergence, and evidence of validity from convergence (Grove et al., 2015, p. 289). Content validity is a measurement of how all the elements of a test are relevant and represent the phenomenon being measured. Evidence of validity from contrasting groups examines how well an instrument correlates in the opposite direction in already established groups (Westen & Rosenthal, 2003). Evidence of validity from convergence measures how the results from a relatively new tool compares in a positive relation to the results from an established tool. Lastly, evidence of validity from divergence measures how the results of a relatively new tool compare in a negative relation to the results of an established tool that measures an opposite phenomenon (Grove et al., 2015, p. 291). Validity of an instrument is paramount in determining how the research relates to the concept that is under

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