For this Discussion, you concentrate on construct validity. To prepare, choose a construct to use (one that was not used in the examples), and consider how you might assess the construct validity of a measure of that construct. Then think about how the reliability of your measure might influence its validity.

Respond by Day 7 to at least two of your colleagues’ postings in one or more of the following ways:

• Ask a probing question.
• Share an insight from having read your colleague’s posting.
• Offer and support an opinion.
• Validate an idea with your own experience.
• Make a suggestion.
• Expand on your colleague’s posting.

Classmate 1 (Samantha):

“The ASVAB (Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery) is a test given to incoming US service members. The test is separated into ten areas: general science, arithmetic reasoning, word knowledge, paragraph comprehension, numerical operations, coding speed, auto and shop information, mathematics knowledge, mechanical comprehension and electronics information (U.S. Army, 2017). There is no specific pass/fail rate, however scores must total 31 or above to be considered for enlistment (U.S. Army, 2017). The test aims to measure knowledge and ability (and thus aptitude) in each of the ten major categories. Job availability for the service member is then based on the scores in those areas. It has been used for many years and is considered to be a reliable and valid test (CITE).

Construct validity is whether the test measures the characteristic it is intended to measure. In 1990,Welsh, Kucinkas, and Curren completed an exhaustive study of the validity of the ASVAB. The authors discussed a number of studies in which the ASVAB was given in conjunction with other tests that were thought to test the same or similar areas. In each case, the correlations between scores on a given ASVAB subtest and similar tests was high (Welsh, Kucinkas, & Curran, 1990).

Content validation would be well-suited to for the ASVAB. This type of validation is useful when the test “calls for the same skills and knowledge required” on a job (Anastasi & Urbina, 1997, p. 116-117). One way to assess the construct validity of this test would be to analyize the various career paths the test purports to show aptitude in. By doing this, we can show the resemblance between the jobs and the test questions (Anastasi & Urbina, 1997). For instance, a question on the ASVAB may be “Your car (a non-deisel engine) needs more oil. Which rating is best? CJ, SA, SN, CH.” We can see how this question would be useful in assessing knowledge of vehicles. This is a standard questions that those individuals with automotive knowledge would have little difficulty in answering (Side note: my husband is a mechanic and stated that this was a very easy question. Of course, I got it wrong. The correct answer is SN.)

In psychological testing, reliability refers to the repeatability of the findings, while validity refers to the credibility of the test findings. To be both reliable and valid, a test must measure what it is designed to measure and do it over and over again with consistency. The American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association, & National Council on Measurement in Education (2014) agree that reliability has impact on validity. A test cannot properly measure what it is intended to measure if the questions give wildly different results from test to test.”

Classmate 2: (Tia)

“The Beck Youth Inventories Second Edition for Children and Adolescents is designed for children and adolescents ages 7 through 18 years. The assessment evaluates the emotional and social impairment of parallel patterns. The five inventories each contain 20 questions about thoughts, feelings, and behaviors associated with emotional and social impairment in youth. The instruments can be used separately or in combination to assess symptoms of depression, anxiety, anger, disruptive behavior, and self-concept (Beck et al., 2005). The construct validity refers to how well a test or tool measures the construct that it was designed to measure. For example, to what extent is the BYI-2 measuring the emotional and social impairment in youth?

To assess the construct validity of the emotional and social impairment in youth one should be able to perform a systematic analysis of how well the research is constructed. Reliability refers to how dependable or consistently a test measures a characteristic. If an individual takes the test again, will the results be similar, or different? A test that yields similar scores repeatedly is said to measure reliably (Anastasi & Urbina, 1997). In this case, it is the emotional and social impairment of parallel patterns. It’s important to understand that reliability measures the consistency and therefore the test could be reliable and not valid. For example, measured against another personality inventory, such as the Beck Depression Inventory-II, a criteria-referenced assessment for measuring depression severity. The assessing of depression will be reliable but will not be valid, since BYI-2 and the BDI-II assessments are different (Anastasi, 1986). According to The American Education Research Association, American Psychological Association & National Council on Measurement in Education (2014), a test must be able to measure what it is intended to measure if the questions give a variety of different results from test to test.”

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