Quantifying Construct Validity: Two Simple Measures

Abstract

Construct validity is one of the most central concepts in psychology. Researchers generally establish the construct validity of a measure by correlating it with a number of other measures and arguing from the pattern of correlations that the measure is associated with these variables in theoretically predictable ways. This article presents 2 simple metrics for quantifying construct validity that provide effect size estimates indicating the extent to which the observed pattern of correlations in a convergent-discriminant validity matrix matches the theoretically predicted pattern of correlations. Both measures. based oil contrast analysis, provide simple estimates of validity that can be compared across studies, constructs. and measures meta-analytic ally, and can be implemented without the use of complex statistical procedures that may limit their accessibility.