Face validity

Face validity is the extent to which a test is subjectively viewed as covering the concept it purports to measure. It refers to the transparency or relevance of a test as it appears to test participants.[1][2] In other words, a test can be said to have face validity if it "looks like" it is going to measure what it is supposed to measure.[3] For instance, if you prepare a test to measure whether students can perform multiplication, and the people you show it to all agree that it looks like a good test of multiplication ability, you have shown the face validity of your test. Face validity is often contrasted with content validity and construct validity.

Some people use the term face validity only to refer to the validity of a test to observers who are not expert in testing methodologies. For instance, if you have a test that is designed to measure whether children are good spellers, and you ask their parents whether the test is a good test, you are studying the face validity of the test. If you ask an expert in testing spelling, some people would argue that you are not testing face validity.[4] This distinction seems too careful for most applications. Generally, face validity means that the test "looks like" it will work, as opposed to "has been shown to work".

Simulation

In simulation, the first goal of the system designer is to construct a system which can support a task to be accomplished, and to record the learner's task performance for any particular trial. The task(s) — and therefore, the task performance — on the simulator should be representative of the real world that they model. Face validity is a subjective measure of the extent to which this selection appears reasonable on the face of it — that is, subjectively to an expert after only a superficial examination of the content. Some assume that it is representative of the realism of the system, according to users and others who are knowledgeable about the real system being simulated.[5] Those would say that if these experts feel the model is adequate, then it has face validity. However, in fact face validity refers to the test, not the system.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Holden, Ronald B. (2010). "Face validity". In Weiner, Irving B.; Craighead, W. Edward. The Corsini Encyclopedia of Psychology (4th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. pp. 637–638. ISBN 978-0-470-17024-3.
  2. ↑ Gravetter, Frederick J.; Forzano, Lori-Ann B. (2012). Research Methods for the Behavioral Sciences (4th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. p. 78. ISBN 978-1-111-34225-8.
  3. ↑ University of Salford: School of Community, Health Sciences and Social Care
  4. ↑ Anastasi, A. (1988). Psychological testing. New York, NY: Macmillan, p. 144
  5. ↑ Banks, J. (2005). Discrete-Event System Simulation. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall

6. ^ Schultz & Schultz, Duane (2010). Psychology and work today. New York: Prentice Hall. pp. 84. ISBN 0-205-68358-4.