Which validity type involves comparing your measure to a more direct or already validated measure?

Which validity type involves comparing your measure to a more direct or already validated measure?

• A. Criterion validity
• B. Content validity
• C. Face validity
• D. Measurement validity

Answer: (A)

Criterion validity is about judging a new measure by comparing it to an established standard that already reflects the same construct. By correlating the new measure with a direct or well-validated criterion, you show whether it behaves like the measure that is trusted to capture the concept. This can be done in two ways: concurrent validity, where the criterion is assessed at the same time, and predictive validity, where the criterion is measured later to see if the new measure can predict an outcome it should forecast. For example, a new test of mathematical ability would be validated by comparing its scores to those from a widely used, validated math assessment to see if they align. This fit—using a more direct or already validated measure as the benchmark—is what defines criterion validity. Content validity checks whether the items cover the relevant parts of the construct, face validity is about whether the measure seems to measure what it should on the surface, and “measurement validity” isn’t a standard, specific type of validity.

Criterion validity is about judging a new measure by comparing it to an established standard that already reflects the same construct. By correlating the new measure with a direct or well-validated criterion, you show whether it behaves like the measure that is trusted to capture the concept. This can be done in two ways: concurrent validity, where the criterion is assessed at the same time, and predictive validity, where the criterion is measured later to see if the new measure can predict an outcome it should forecast. For example, a new test of mathematical ability would be validated by comparing its scores to those from a widely used, validated math assessment to see if they align. This fit—using a more direct or already validated measure as the benchmark—is what defines criterion validity. Content validity checks whether the items cover the relevant parts of the construct, face validity is about whether the measure seems to measure what it should on the surface, and “measurement validity” isn’t a standard, specific type of validity.