6/5/2020 The 4 Types of Validity | Explained with Easy Examples

The four types of validity

Date published September 6, 2019 by Fiona Middleton. Date updated: January 13, 2020

In quantitative research, you have to consider the reliability and validity of your methods and
measurements.

Validity tells you how accurately a method measures something. If a method measures what it
claims to measure, and the results closely correspond to real-world values, then it can be
considered valid. There are four main types of validity:

Construct validity: Does the test measure the concept that it’s intended to measure?
Content validity: Is the test fully representative of what it aims to measure?
Face validity: Does the content of the test appear to be suitable to its aims?
Criterion validity: Do the results correspond to a different test of the same thing?

Note that this article deals with types of test validity, which determine the accuracy of the
actual components of a measure. If you are doing experimental research, you also need to
consider internal and external validity, which deal with the experimental design and the
generalizability of results.

 Table of contents

1. Construct validity
2. Content validity
3. Face validity
4. Criterion validity

Construct validity
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6/5/2020 The 4 Types of Validity | Explained with Easy Examples

Construct validity evaluates whether a measurement tool really represents the thing we are
interested in measuring. It’s central to establishing the overall validity of a method.

What is a construct?
A construct refers to a concept or characteristic that can’t be directly observed, but can be
measured by observing other indicators that are associated with it.

Constructs can be characteristics of individuals, such as intelligence, obesity, job satisfaction,

or depression; they can also be broader concepts applied to organizations or social groups,
such as gender equality, corporate social responsibility, or freedom of speech.

Example

There is no objective, observable entity called “depression” that we can measure

directly. But based on existing psychological research and theory, we can measure
depression based on a collection of symptoms and indicators, such as low self-
confidence and low energy levels.

What is construct validity?

Construct validity is about ensuring that the method of measurement matches the construct
you want to measure. If you develop a questionnaire to diagnose depression, you need to
know: does the questionnaire really measure the construct of depression? Or is it actually
measuring the respondent’s mood, self-esteem, or some other construct?

To achieve construct validity, you have to ensure that your indicators and measurements are
carefully developed based on relevant existing knowledge. The questionnaire must include
only relevant questions that measure known indicators of depression.

The other types of validity described below can all be considered as forms of evidence for
construct validity.

Content validity
Content validity assesses whether a test is representative of all aspects of the construct.

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6/5/2020 The 4 Types of Validity | Explained with Easy Examples

To produce valid results, the content of a test, survey or measurement method must cover all
relevant parts of the subject it aims to measure. If some aspects are missing from the
measurement (or if irrelevant aspects are included), the validity is threatened.

Example

A mathematics teacher develops an end-of-semester algebra test for her class. The test
should cover every form of algebra that was taught in the class. If some types of
algebra are left out, then the results may not be an accurate indication of students’
understanding of the subject. Similarly, if she includes questions that are not related to
algebra, the results are no longer a valid measure of algebra knowledge.

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Face validity
Face validity considers how suitable the content of a test seems to be on the surface. It’s
similar to content validity, but face validity is a more informal and subjective assessment.

Example

You create a survey to measure the regularity of people’s dietary habits. You review the
survey items, which ask questions about every meal of the day and snacks eaten in
between for every day of the week. On its surface, the survey seems like a good
representation of what you want to test, so you consider it to have high face validity.

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6/5/2020 The 4 Types of Validity | Explained with Easy Examples

As face validity is a subjective measure, it’s often considered the weakest form of validity.
However, it can be useful in the initial stages of developing a method.

Criterion validity
Criterion validity evaluates how closely the results of your test correspond to the results of a
different test.

What is a criterion?
The criterion is an external measurement of the same thing. It is usually an established or
widely-used test that is already considered valid.

What is criterion validity?

To evaluate criterion validity, you calculate the correlation between the results of your
measurement and the results of the criterion measurement. If there is a high correlation, this
gives a good indication that your test is measuring what it intends to measure.

Example

A university professor creates a new test to measure applicants’ English writing ability.
To assess how well the test really does measure students’ writing ability, she finds an
existing test that is considered a valid measurement of English writing ability, and
compares the results when the same group of students take both tests. If the outcomes
are very similar, the new test has a high criterion validity.

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6/5/2020 The 4 Types of Validity | Explained with Easy Examples

Fiona Middleton
Fiona has been editing for Scribbr since August 2016. She has a bachelor's degree in geology
and is currently working towards a master's degree in marine sciences. She loves working
with students based around the world to refine their writing.

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13 comments

Cli · June 3, 2020 at 5:17 PM

Absolutely clear thanks!

Reply

Elamo · May 2, 2020 at 2:32 AM

Well explained. Thank you.

Reply

afsha · April 27, 2020 at 1:41 PM

beautifully explained.

Reply

Lawal Afo · March 30, 2020 at 3:02 PM

Good work

Reply

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6/5/2020 The 4 Types of Validity | Explained with Easy Examples

Alhassan · March 14, 2020 at 12:05 AM

good understanding

Reply

Neema · March 10, 2020 at 12:14 PM

Thank you

Reply

Abdullah Mir · January 19, 2020 at 9:32 PM

content is written with such a clarity and simplicity.It is very easy to understood and
remember.Thank you.

Reply

Ahmed · January 5, 2020 at 8:25 AM

Thank you so much ?

Reply

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6/5/2020 The 4 Types of Validity | Explained with Easy Examples

Mary Kate · December 29, 2019 at 3:29 PM

What is reliability? and its types?

Reply

Caro mku nakuru campus · December 16, 2019 at 3:30 PM

Very precise n straight forward answers .thank u

Reply

Nuristani · December 16, 2019 at 1:18 PM

It is very precise, practical and to the point. Thanks for sharing

Reply

Chadia · December 9, 2019 at 11:47 AM

What is methods of collecting data ??

Reply

Shona McCombes (Scribbr-team) · December 23, 2019 at 12:31 PM

Hi Chadia,

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6/5/2020 The 4 Types of Validity | Explained with Easy Examples

Data collection methods are used to get the information you need to answer
your research question. That might include things like surveys, observations
or experiments. You can read more in our introduction to research methods.

Hope that helps!

Reply

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