Which statement defines construct validity?

Which statement defines construct validity?

• A. Whether the measure relates to other measures as theory predicts.
• B. Consistency of a measure across time or observers.
• C. Consistency of reports by the same observer across time.
• D. Consistency of reports across different observers.

Answer: (A)

Construct validity asks whether the instrument actually taps the theoretical construct it’s meant to measure. The key idea is that the scores should relate to other measures in predictable ways grounded in theory. If the construct is anxiety, for example, the measure should align with established anxiety scales and predict outcomes linked to anxiety, while not relating to unrelated traits. This pattern—measures relating to other variables as theory predicts—provides evidence of validity and is described in terms like convergent and discriminant validity. This differs from reliability, which is about consistency of the measure rather than whether it measures the intended construct. A test can be reliable (stable scores over time or consistent across raters) but still not measure the right thing. In short, the statement that captures construct validity is that the measure relates to other measures as theory predicts.

Construct validity asks whether the instrument actually taps the theoretical construct it’s meant to measure. The key idea is that the scores should relate to other measures in predictable ways grounded in theory. If the construct is anxiety, for example, the measure should align with established anxiety scales and predict outcomes linked to anxiety, while not relating to unrelated traits. This pattern—measures relating to other variables as theory predicts—provides evidence of validity and is described in terms like convergent and discriminant validity.

This differs from reliability, which is about consistency of the measure rather than whether it measures the intended construct. A test can be reliable (stable scores over time or consistent across raters) but still not measure the right thing. In short, the statement that captures construct validity is that the measure relates to other measures as theory predicts.