Abstract
This chapter mainly discusses the concepts of construct, validity and validation. First, different views of construct are presented. Then the chapter focuses on the concept of validity and various theoretical underpinnings of test validation, including Messick’s validation framework, Kane’s interpretive argument framework, Bachman and Palmer’s assessment use argument (AUA for short) framework as well as multitrait-multimethod (MTMM for short) approach.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Allport, G. W. (1937). Personality: A psychological interpretation. New York: Holt.
Allport, G. W. (1960). The open system in personality theory. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 61(3), 301–310.
Allport, G. W. (1966). Traits revisited. American Psychologist, 21(1), 1–10.
American Educational Research Association. (1999). Standards for educational and psychological testing. Washington: American Educational Research Association.
Bachman, L. F. (1990). Fundamental considerations in language testing. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Bachman, L. F., Davidson, F., & Foulkes, J. (1990). A comparison of the abilities measured by the Cambridge and Educational Testing Service EFL test batteries. Issues in Applied Linguistics, 1(1), 30–55.
Bachman, L. F., & Palmer, A. S. (1982). The construct validation of some components of communicative proficiency. TESOL Quarterly, 16(4), 449–465.
Bachman, L. F., & Palmer, A. S. (1996). Language testing in practice: Designing and developing useful language tests. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Bachman, L. F., & Palmer, A. S. (2010). Language assessment in practice. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Bem, D. J., & Allen, A. (1974). On predicting some of the people some of the time: The search for cross-situational consistencies in behavior. Psychological Review, 81(6), 506–520.
Borsboom, D., Mellenbergh, G. J., & van Heerden, J. (2004). The concept of validity. Psychological Review, 111(4), 1061–1071.
Campbell, D. T., & Fiske, D. W. (1959). Convergent and discriminant validation by the multitrait-multimethod matrix. Psychological Bulletin, 56(2), 81–105.
Chapelle, C. A. (1998). Construct definition and validity inquiry in SLA research. In L. F. Bachman, & A. D. Cohen (Eds.), Interfaces between second language acquisition and language testing research (pp. 32–70). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Cronbach, L. J., & Meehl, P. E. (1955). Construct validity in psychological tests. Psychological Bulletin, 52(4), 281–302.
Duran, R. P. (1989). Testing of linguistic minorities. In R. L. Linn (Ed.), Educational measurement (3rd ed., pp. 573–587). New York: Macmillan.
Farr, R., Pritchard, R., & Smitten, B. (1990). A description of what happens when an examinee takes a multiple-choice reading comprehension test. Journal of Educational Measurement, 27(3), 209–226.
Fulcher, G. (2015). Re-examining language testing: A philosophical and social inquiry. London: Routledge.
Grotjahn, R. (1986). Test validation and cognitive psychology: Some methodological considerations. Language Testing, 3(2), 159–185.
Hume, D. (1999). An enquiry concerning human understanding. T. L. Beauchamp (Ed.), Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Kane, M. T. (1992). An argument-based approach to validity. Psychological Bulletin, 112(3), 527–535.
Kane, M. T. (2001). Current concerns in validity theory. Journal of Educational Measurement, 38(4), 319–324.
Kane, M. T. (2002). Validating high-stakes testing programs. Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice, 21(1), 31–41.
Kane, M. T. (2013). Validating the interpretations and uses of test scores. Journal of Educational Measurement, 50(1), 1–73.
Lakatos, I. (1970). Falsification and the methodology of scientific research programmes. In I. Lakatos, & A. Musgrave (Eds.), Criticism and the growth of knowledge (pp. 91–196). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Loevinger, J. (1957). Objective tests as instruments of psychological theory. Psychological Reports, 3 (Monograph Supplement 9), 635–694.
McNamara, T. F., & Roever, C. (2006). Language testing: The social dimension. Malden: Blackwell.
Messick, S. (1989). Validity. In R. L. Linn (Ed.), Educational measurement (3rd ed., pp. 13–103). New York: Macmillan.
Mischel, W. (1968). Personality and assessment. New York: Wiley.
Mischel, W., & Peake, P. K. (1982). Beyond deja vu in the search for cross-situational consistency. Psychological Review, 89(6), 730–755.
Mislevy, R. J. (1994). Evidence and inference in educational assessment. Psychometrika, 59(4), 439–483.
Mislevy, R. J. (1996). Test theory reconceived. Journal of Educational Measurement, 33(4), 379–416.
Moss, P., Pullin, D., Gee, J., & Haertel, E. (2005). The idea of testing: Psychometric and sociocultural perspectives. Measurement: Interdisciplinary Research and Perspectives, 3(2), 63–83.
Palmer, A. S., & Groot, P. J. M. (1981). An introduction. In A. S. Palmer, P. J. M. Groot, & G. A. Trosper (Eds.), The construct validation of tests of communicative competence (pp. 1–11). Washington: Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages.
Peirce, C. S. (1877). The fixation of belief. In E. C. Moore (Ed.), The essential writings of Charles S. Peirce (pp. 120–137). New York: Prometheus Books.
Popper, K. R. (1965). Conjectures and refutations: The growth of scientific knowledge. New York: Harper & Row.
Shohamy, E. (1996). Language testing: Matching assessment procedures with language knowledge. In M. Birenbaum, & F. J. R. C. Dochy (Eds.), Alternatives in assessment of achievements, learning processes and prior knowledge (pp. 143–160). Boston: Kluwer/Springer.
Toulmin, S. E. (1958). The uses of argument. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Tryon, W. W. (1979). The test-trait fallacy. American Psychologist, 34(5), 402–406.
Urquhart, S., & Weir, C. J. (1998). Reading in a second language: Process, product and practice. London: Longman.
Weir, C. J. (2005). Language testing and validation: An evidence-based approach. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Westen, D., & Rosenthal, R. (2003). Quantifying construct validity: Two simple measures. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84(3), 608–618.
Whitely, S. E. (1983). Construct validity: Construct representation versus nomothetic span. Psychological Bulletin, 93(1), 179–197.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Kong, J. (2019). Construct and Validity. In: Investigating the Role of Test Methods in Testing Reading Comprehension. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-7021-2_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-7021-2_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-13-7020-5
Online ISBN: 978-981-13-7021-2
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)