Reliability and Validity are important aspects of research in the human services field. Without reliability and validity researchers results would be useless. This paper will define the types of reliability and validity and give examples of each. Examples of a data collection method and data collection instruments used in human services and managerial research will be given. This paper will look into why it is important to ensure that these data collection methods and instruments are both reliable and valid.
Reliability is the consistency of your measurement, or the degree to which an instrument ensures the same way each time it is used under the same condition with the same subjects. In short, it is the repeatability of a measurement. A
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Consider an aptitude test that is designed to predict whether applicants to law school will succeed if admitted. We would be interested in the test’s criterion validity, as it would tell us how well scores on the test are correlated with the particular criterion of success used to assess it. We would also be interested in the test’s construct validity, as it provides insurance that we are measuring the concept
(or construct) in question. There are other uses of validity that are of interest to us as well, such as the test’s content validity, or how adequately it has sampled the universe of content it purports to measure. The concept of validity also has several different uses in research design, and in the following chapters we will examine specific experimental and no experimental designs and how well each fulfills its function.
There are eight types of validity and they are the following:
Construct validity: The degree to which the conceptualization of what is being measured or experimentally manipulated is what is claimed, such as the constructs that are measured by psychological tests or that serves as a link between independent and dependent variables.
Content validity: The adequate sampling of the relevant material or content that a test purports to measure.
Convergent and discriminant validity: The grounds established for a construct based on the convergence of related tests or behavior (convergent validity) and the
Content validity is achieved when the content of the assessment matches the educational objectives. Criterion validity is demonstrated by the ability of the test to relate to external requirements. Construct validity takes into account the educational variables, such as the native language of the students, to predict the test outcomes. Reliable assessments have consistent results; Reliability refers to the consistency of a measure. A test is considered reliable if we get the same result repeatedly.
Values and Motives Questionnaire: The Technical Manual (n.d.). Retrieved from the Liberty COUN 521 website: Psytech International.
The Values and Motives Questionnaire, also known as the Values and Motives Inventory, is designed to examine a person’s motivation in relation to his values and activities. In order to ensure a comprehensive understanding of values, the VMQ assess three distinct areas, including: interpersonal, intrinsic, and extrinsic. Interpersonal values, according to the VMQ refer to one’s relationships with others. Intrinsic values contain one’s personal beliefs and attitudes. Finally, extrinsic values are one’s motivating factors at the workplace. Each of these three areas contain twelve topics
Validity refers to whether the research conducted is what it intended to be. Validity involves dependability, which means, a valid measure must be reliable. But, reliability doesn’t have to link to validity, a reliable measure is not required to be valid.
“With the dawn of the 16th century, there came together in Europe both the motivation and the means to explore and colonize territory across the seas” With respect to religion, trade, and technology this seems to be a valid quote referring to the 16th century and how Europeans were able to accomplish colonization and exploration on the other half of the globe.
Give a one-sentence definition of construct validity. Then, use one sentence to explain the term ‘operational definition’. Finally, explain the role operational definitions play in making a study more construct valid.
Now, it is time to give an overview of some of the design threats to construct validity. If the researcher did not define the construct efficiently than it can lead to the inadequate preoperational explication of constructs threat (Trochim & Donnelly, 2008). Next, is the mono-operation bias, which is the use of the study program only one time and one place (Trochim & Donnelly, 2008). Third, the mono-method bias is the use of any one measure or observation (Trochim & Donnelly, 2008). Finally, the confounding constructs and the levels of constructs threat (Trochim & Donnelly, 2008). Overall, this threat to construct validity is a labeling issue like some of the other threats to construct validity (Trochim & Donnelly, 2008). However, there are more design threats than listed in this paper to construct
For any measure to be valuable in psychological research, it needs to be both valid and reliable (Goodwin, 2008: 128). Research is reliable when more researchers have found the same results, or, within for instance behavioural research, when the same behaviour occurs at several measurements (Goodwin, 2008: 124). There are different types of validity. Firstly, there is construct validity, which measures whether an operationalisation of a construct actually measures what it is supposed to measure. Secondly, criterion validity determines whether a certain phenomenon is related to another phenomenon, and can accurately determine future developments. Lastly, content validity determines whether a test measures all aspects of the construct that is being measured (Goodwin, 2008: 125-126).
Evaluating human services is a task that can be very complex. People can have different interpretations of the same event. Another concern is that people are not always honest. Therefore, human services will gain from effective, high quality evaluations of data collection methods. This requires that the data collection methods supply accurate and dependable information. This paper will define and describe 2 concepts of measurement known as reliability and validity,-provide examples and supporting facts as to how these concepts apply to data collection in human services, and evaluate the importance of the validity and
In psychological assessment of any kind, validity is defined as “the degree to which all the accumulated evidence supports the intended
Validity refers to that measuring tool or approaches can accurately measure things needed to be measured. It can be considered as an extent that measured results reflect investigative contents. Measured results more tend to be identical, validity will be higher, vice versa. Guba and Lincoln (1981) argued that whole social research must include invalidity in order to acquire worthwhile data within both the rationalistic paradigm (quantitative research) and naturalistic paradigm (qualitative research). Some factors can determine the level of validity, which include bias, construct
With the expected growth in the allied health sector in the coming years due to increased patient care demands, healthcare organizations in the United State will need to take steps to maintain a high quality of care. These steps will include ways to ensure that well trained staff are hired, adequate new staff on the job training and orientation, continuous review of policies for improvements in safety, care, risk management and quality assurance. In addition to focusing on the integration of the incoming allied health personnel, healthcare organizations are expected to review how care is currently provided, and find new ways to provide care and meet the great increase in demand for care.
Internal consistency--The application and appropriateness of internal consistency would be viewed as reliability. Internal consistency describes the continuous results provided in any given test. It guarantees that a range of items measure the singular method giving consistent scores. The appropriateness would be to use the re-test method in which the same test is given to be able to compare whether the internal consistency has done its job (Cohen & Swerdlik, 2010). For example a test that could be given is the proficiency test which provides three different parts to the test, but if a person does not pass the test the same test is given again.
It is worth stating that to assess the quality of social science research; four criteria of evaluation can be applied: validity, reliability, comprehensiveness (generalization) and coherence (objectivity) (Hugh 2001:49). These criteria have been found to be more applicable to quantitative. However,
Testability: Scientific research should test logically developed hypotheses to see whether or not the data supports the hypothesis that are developed after