Advancing Validity in Outcome Evaluation: Theory and Practice

Advancing Validity in Outcome Evaluation: Theory and Practice
Author: Huey T. Chen
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 138
Release: 2011-07-13
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1118159179

Exploring the influence and application of Campbellian validity typology in the theory and practice of outcome evaluation, this volume addresses the strengths and weaknesses of this often controversial evaluation method and presents new perspectives for its use. Editors Huey T. Chen, Stewart I. Donaldson and Melvin M. Mark provide a historical overview of the Campbellian typology adoption, contributions and criticism. Contributing authors propose strategies in developing a new perspective of validity typology for advancing validity in program evaluation including Enhance External Validity Enhance Precision by Reclassifying the Campbellian Typology Expand the Scope of the Typology The volume concludes with William R. Shadish's spirited rebuttal to earlier chapters. A collaborator with Don Campbell, Shadish provides a balance to the perspective of the issue with a clarification and defense of Campbell's work. This is the 129th volume of the Jossey-Bass quarterly report series New Directions for Evaluation, an official publication of the American Evaluation Association.

Fast Facts to Loving Your Research Project

Fast Facts to Loving Your Research Project
Author: Brenda Marshall, EdD, PMHNP-BC, ANEF
Publisher: Springer Publishing Company
Total Pages: 258
Release: 2019-10-08
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 0826146376

While often greeted with trepidation, the importance of a research project—how it is conducted and its significance to practice—is an essential aspect of nursing and other healthcare arenas. This innovative resource is a user-friendly introduction to evidence-based practice and other types of research-based initiatives that improve patient outcomes. Using a method formed through years of teaching experience, Brenda Marshall translates the difficult and sometimes confusing language of research into everyday vocabulary, linking complicated concepts with easily understood scenarios. Written in quick-access Fast Facts style, this book presents knowledge in a consistent, step-by-step format characterized by bite-sized information. Each chapter opens with learning objectives that unfold into new concepts, followed by everyday life examples. Fast Facts boxes, systematized tables, and new vocabulary reinforce learning and highlight key concepts. This application-based approach helps students question their preconceived notions about research and then engage in it with newfound confidence. Key Features: Translates complex research concepts into straightforward language Demonstrates clear, step-by-step methods that facilitate successful attainment of research goals Helps students to construct an argument, build a theory, and critically explore a belief Promotes self-sufficiency in lifelong learning and achievement Written by an instructor whose classes have propelled many successful research careers

Validity and Validation

Validity and Validation
Author: Catherine S. Taylor
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 217
Release: 2013-09-03
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 0199359245

The Understanding Research series focuses on the process of writing up social research. The series is broken down into three categories: Understanding Statistics, Understanding Measurement, and Understanding Qualitative Research. The books provide researchers with guides to understanding, writing, and evaluating social research. Each volume demonstrates how research should be represented, including how to write up the methodology as well as the research findings. Each volume also reviews how to appropriately evaluate published research. Validity and Validation is an introduction to validity theory and to the methods used to obtain evidence for the validity of research and assessment results. The book pulls together the best thinking from educational and psychological research and assessment over the past 50 years. It briefly describes validity theory's roots in the philosophy of science. It highlights the ways these philosophical perspectives influence concepts of internal and external validity in research methodology, as well as concepts of validity and reliability in educational and psychological tests and measurements. Each chapter provides multiple examples (e.g., research designs and examples of output) to help the readers see how validation work is done in practice, from the ways we design research studies to the ways we interpret research results. Of particular importance is the practical focus on validation of scores from tests and other measures. The book also addresses strategies for investigating the validity of inferences we make about examinees using scores from assessments, as well as how to investigate score uses, the value implications of score interpretations, and the social consequences of score use. With this foundation, the book presents strategies for minimizing threats for validity as well as quantitative and qualitative methods for gathering evidence for the validity of scores.

Test Validity

Test Validity
Author: Howard Wainer
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 289
Release: 2013-07-04
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1136564527

Technological and theoretical changes over the past decade have altered the way we think about test validity. This book addresses the present and future concerns raised by these developments. Topics discussed include: * the validity of computerized testing * the validity of testing for specialized populations (e.g., minorities, the handicapped) and * new analytic tools to study and measure validity

Validity Assessment in Clinical Neuropsychological Practice

Validity Assessment in Clinical Neuropsychological Practice
Author: Ryan W. Schroeder
Publisher: Guilford Publications
Total Pages: 593
Release: 2021-09-20
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 1462547788

Practical and comprehensive, this is the first book to focus on noncredible performance in clinical contexts. Experts in the field discuss the varied causes of invalidity, describe how to efficiently incorporate validity tests into clinical evaluations, and provide direction on how to proceed when noncredible responding is detected. Thoughtful, ethical guidance is given for offering patient feedback and writing effective reports. Population-specific chapters cover validity assessment with military personnel; children; and individuals with dementia, psychiatric disorders, mild traumatic brain injury, academic disability, and other concerns. The concluding chapter describes how to appropriately engage in legal proceedings if a clinical case becomes forensic. Case examples and sample reports enhance the book's utility.

Frontiers of Test Validity Theory

Frontiers of Test Validity Theory
Author: Keith A. Markus
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 360
Release: 2013-06-19
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 1135055866

This book examines test validity in the behavioral, social, and educational sciences by exploring three fundamental problems: measurement, causation and meaning. Psychometric and philosophical perspectives receive attention along with unresolved issues. The authors explore how measurement is conceived from both the classical and modern perspectives. The importance of understanding the underlying concepts as well as the practical challenges of test construction and use receive emphasis throughout. The book summarizes the current state of the test validity theory field. Necessary background on test theory and statistics is presented as a conceptual overview where needed. Each chapter begins with an overview of key material reviewed in previous chapters, concludes with a list of suggested readings, and features boxes with examples that connect theory to practice. These examples reflect actual situations that occurred in psychology, education, and other disciplines in the US and around the globe, bringing theory to life. Critical thinking questions related to the boxed material engage and challenge readers. A few examples include: What is the difference between intelligence and IQ? Can people disagree on issues of value but agree on issues of test validity? Is it possible to ask the same question in two different languages? The first part of the book contrasts theories of measurement as applied to the validity of behavioral science measures.The next part considers causal theories of measurement in relation to alternatives such as behavior domain sampling, and then unpacks the causal approach in terms of alternative theories of causation.The final section explores the meaning and interpretation of test scores as it applies to test validity. Each set of chapters opens with a review of the key theories and literature and concludes with a review of related open questions in test validity theory. Researchers, practitioners and policy makers interested in test validity or developing tests appreciate the book's cutting edge review of test validity. The book also serves as a supplement in graduate or advanced undergraduate courses on test validity, psychometrics, testing or measurement taught in psychology, education, sociology, social work, political science, business, criminal justice and other fields. The book does not assume a background in measurement.

Interpreting Assessment Data

Interpreting Assessment Data
Author: Edwin P. Christmann
Publisher: NSTA Press
Total Pages: 209
Release: 2009
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1933531363

Provides a practical approach which helps teachers understand how to interpret student assessments statistically and how to measure and explain the validity and reliability of those assessments. This framework for measuring and interpreting assessment results is a must-have for your professional development library.

Validity

Validity
Author: Gregory J. Cizek
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 207
Release: 2020-02-25
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1000039692

Validity is a clear, substantive introduction to the two most fundamental aspects of defensible testing practice: understanding test score meaning and justifying test score use. Driven by evidence-based and consensus-grounded measurement theory, principles, and terminology, this book addresses the most common questions of applied validation, the quality of test information, and the usefulness of test results. Concise yet comprehensive, this volume’s integrated framework is ideal for graduate courses on assessment, testing, psychometrics, and research methods as well as for credentialing organizations, licensure and certification entities, education agencies, and test publishers.

Legal Validity and Soft Law

Legal Validity and Soft Law
Author: Pauline Westerman
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 271
Release: 2018-12-05
Genre: Law
ISBN: 3319775227

This book features essays that investigate the nature of legal validity from the point of view of different traditions and disciplines. Validity is a fascinating and elusive characteristic of law that in itself deserves to be explored, but further investigation is made more acute and necessary by the production, nowadays, of soft law products of regulation, such as declarations, self-regulatory codes, and standardization norms. These types of rules may not exhibit the characteristics of formal law, and may lack full formal validity but yet may have a very real impact on people's lives. The essays focus on the structural properties of hard and soft legal phenomena and the basis of their validity. Some propose to redefine validity: to allow for multiple concepts instead of one and/or to allow for a gradual concept of validity. Others seek to analyze the new situation by linking it to familiar historical debates and well-established theories of law. In addition, coverage looks at the functions of validity itself. The discussion considers both international law as well as domestic law arrangements. What does it mean to say that something is valid? Should we discard validity as the determining aspect of law? If so, what does this mean for our concept of law? Should we differentiate between kinds of validity? Or, can we say that rules can be "more" or "less" valid? After reading this book, practitioners, scholars and students will have a nuanced understanding of these questions and more. Chapter 6 is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.