Final answer:
Rational approaches to test validation include content validity, concurrent validity, predictive validity, and structural validity. These methods ensure that an instrument measures exactly what it is intended to measure accurately.
Step-by-step explanation:
Rational approaches to test validation include various types of validity examinations to ensure an instrument accurately measures what it's supposed to measure. These types are:
- Content Validity: Ensures the test covers all relevant parts of the subject it is designed to measure.
- Concurrent Validity: Involves comparing the test results to those from an already established measurement to determine accuracy.
- Predictive Validity: Indicates how well the test predicts future behavior or outcomes.
- Reliable Validity: This option is not typically used as a standard term in test validation. Reliability is related but distinct from validity, indicating consistency of the results, rather than accuracy.
- Structural Validity: Refers to the extent to which test scores relate to other measures based on theoretically derived expectations.
Importance of Validity and Reliability
While any valid measure is by necessity reliable, the reverse is not necessarily true. Instruments used in research must be both to ensure accurate measurements.