Which type of validity relates a measure to an outcome it should theoretically be related to?

Which type of validity relates a measure to an outcome it should theoretically be related to?

• A. Criterion validity
• B. Internal validity
• C. External validity
• D. Mundane realism

Answer: (A)

Criterion validity focuses on how well a measure relates to an outcome it should theoretically be related to. It asks whether the scores on your measure align with an external criterion that reflects the construct’s real-world impact or an established standard. If theory predicts that higher scores on the measure should go with higher levels of the outcome, and the data show that relationship, you’ve demonstrated criterion validity. There are practical forms of this: concurrent validity, where the criterion is measured at the same time, and predictive validity, where the measure forecasts a future outcome. For example, a new depression inventory should correlate with clinician-rated depression severity (concurrent) or predict future functional impairment (predictive). Internal validity focuses on causal conclusions within experiments, external validity on generalizability, and mundane realism on how closely a task resembles real life; none of these center on linking a measure to a theoretically related outcome.

Criterion validity focuses on how well a measure relates to an outcome it should theoretically be related to. It asks whether the scores on your measure align with an external criterion that reflects the construct’s real-world impact or an established standard. If theory predicts that higher scores on the measure should go with higher levels of the outcome, and the data show that relationship, you’ve demonstrated criterion validity. There are practical forms of this: concurrent validity, where the criterion is measured at the same time, and predictive validity, where the measure forecasts a future outcome. For example, a new depression inventory should correlate with clinician-rated depression severity (concurrent) or predict future functional impairment (predictive). Internal validity focuses on causal conclusions within experiments, external validity on generalizability, and mundane realism on how closely a task resembles real life; none of these center on linking a measure to a theoretically related outcome.