Questioning the Consensus Definition of Validity

摘要

The focus article provided me with an opportunity to unpack the consensus definition of validity and to explore its implications in the light of recent debates. I proposed an elaboration of the consensus definition, which was intended to express the spirit of the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing (American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association, & National Council on Measurement in Education, 1999) with increased precision, highlighting a range of features including the following:rn1. People assess in order to make decisions and, therefore, validity is ultimately a property of assessment-based decision-making procedures.rn2. Validity is a property of a procedure that describes its potential to support good measurement and, therefore, good decision making.