Question

Kristoff was recently diagnosed with depression after reporting symptoms such as a loss of interest in activities, poor concentration, loss of appetite, difficulty sleeping, and fatigue. He was referred for therapy. At his first session, he took a test for depression composed of items about sadness and crying. His scores indicated that he was not depressed. Which statement is true about the test?

a. it is trustworthy
b. it has high face validity
c. it accurately assesses depressive symptoms
d. it has low reliability

Answer 1

The test Kristoff took has high face validity because it superficially appears to measure depression based on sadness and crying, but may not capture the full range of depressive symptoms.

b is correct

Step-by-step explanation:

Considering Kristoff's symptoms and the results of the test for depression which focused only on sadness and crying, the correct statement about the test is: b. it has high face validity. Face validity refers to the extent to which a test appears to measure what it's supposed to measure, based on a superficial examination of its content.

Despite Kristoff scoring as not depressed on the test, his symptoms such as loss of interest, poor concentration, loss of appetite, difficulty sleeping, and fatigue suggest that he does indeed experience depressive symptoms. Therefore, while the test may look like it's assessing depression on the surface, it may not capture the full range of depressive symptoms, making its face validity potentially misleading in this context.

Answer 2

The correct answer is option b. "it has high face validity".

Step-by-step explanation:

Face validity in a test is a very broad concept that simply refers to whether the test appears to be suitable to report what it claims to do. It is important to notice that high face validity in a test only means that the judgers of the test agree that the test is suitable, but it doesn't mean that the test is reliable for the patient and for the therapist. In this example, Kristoff should take other tests and examinations before he could be sure that he is not suffering from depression, particularly because he has many symptoms that indicate that he is depressed.