Week 2 – Validity and Reliability

Instruments are tools researchers use to collect data. They are also known as “tests.” In reference to
instruments, validity is about the instrument itself, that is, “Is the test measuring what it is supposed to
measure?” Reliability means, “Are the results of the test consistent over time?”

Understanding Reliability and Validity in Qualitative Research

Some kay words used in this topic for finding information are: Research Instrument, Questionnaire,
Survey, Survey Validity, Questionnaire Reliability, Content Validity, Face Validity, Construct Validity,
and Criterion Validity.

Based on this week’s required studies, answer the following questions:

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How do validity and reliability help to ascertain the quality of a piece of research?

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Joppe (2000) defines reliability as:

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The extent to which results are consistent over time and an accurate representation of
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the total population under study is referred to as reliability and if the results of a study
can be reproduced under a similar methodology, then the research instrument is
considered to be reliable. (p. 1)
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Joppe (2000) provides the following explanation of what validity is in quantitative

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research:
Validity determines whether the research truly measures that which it was intended to
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measure or how truthful the research results are. In other words, does the research
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instrument allow you to hit "the bull’s eye" of your research object? Researchers
generally determine validity by asking a series of questions, and will often look for the
answers in the research of others. (p. 1)
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When presented with a set of student assessment data from standardized testing, what
criteria would you look for to ascertain the qualities of validity and reliability of the data?
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Questionnaire is one of the most widely used tools to collect data in especially social
science research. The main objective of questionnaire in research is to obtain relevant
information in most reliable and valid manner. The accuracy and consistency of
survey/questionnaire forms a significant aspect of research methodology which are
known as validity and reliability. New researchers are often confused with selection and
conducting of proper validity type to test their research questionnaire/survey.

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 There are various forms of validity and reliability tests.

What is most important, the validity or the reliability of an assessment in your daily practice?
Explain.

Validity explains how well the collected data covers the actual area of investigation.
Validity basically means “measure what is intended to be measured” (Field, 2005). I
A quantitative researcher needs to construct an instrument to be administered in
standardized manner according to predetermined procedures

Question:

One of the following tests is reliable but not valid and the other is valid but not
reliable. Can you figure out which is which?

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1. You want to measure student intelligence so you ask students to do as many

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push-ups as they can every day for a week.

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2. You want to measure students’ perception of their teacher using a survey but the
teacher hands out the evaluations right after she reprimands her class, which she

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doesn’t normally do.
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Answer:
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Returning to the example above, if we measure the number of pushups the same
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students can do every day for a week (which, it should be noted, is not long enough to
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significantly increase strength) and each person does approximately the same amount
of pushups on each day, the test is reliable. But, clearly, the reliability of these results
still does not render the number of pushups per student a valid measure of intelligence.
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Because reliability does not concern the actual relevance of the data in answering a
focused question, validity will generally take precedence over reliability. Moreover,
schools will often assess two levels of validity:
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1. the validity of the research question itself in quantifying the larger, generally more
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abstract goal
2. the validity of the instrument chosen to answer the research question
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The use of reliability and validity are common in quantitative research and now it is
reconsidered in the qualitative research model. Since reliability and validity are rooted in
positivist perspective then they should be redefined for their use in a naturalistic approach.
Like reliability and validity as used in quantitative research are providing springboard to
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 examine what these two terms mean in the qualitative research model, triangulation as
used in quantitative research to test the reliability and validity can also illuminate some
ways to test or maximize the validity and reliability of a qualitative study. Therefore,
reliability, validity and triangulation, if they are relevant research concepts, particularly from
a qualitative point of view, have to be redefined in order to reflect the multiple ways of
establishing truth (Taherdoost, 2016).
In comparison, to Quantitative research, Qualitative research uses a naturalistic
approach that seeks to understand phenomena in context-specific settings, such
as "real world setting [where] the researcher does not attempt to manipulate the
phenomenon of interest" (Patton, 2001, p. 39).
Qualitative research, broadly defined, means "any kind of research that produces
findings not arrived at by means of statistical procedures or other means of
quantification" (Strauss and Corbin, 1990, p. 17) and instead, the kind of
research that produces findings arrived from real-world settings where the

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"phenomenon of interest unfold naturally" (Patton, 2001, p. 39).

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Unlike quantitative researchers who seek causal determination, prediction, and

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generalization of findings, qualitative researchers seek instead illumination,
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understanding, and extrapolation to similar situations (Hoepfl, 1997).
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References
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Taherdoost, Hamed, Validity and Reliability of the Research Instrument; How to Test the Validation of
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a Questionnaire/Survey in a Research (August 10, 2016). Available at SSRN:

https://ssrn.com/abstract=3205040 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3205040
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Golafshani, N. (2003). Understanding reliability and validity in qualitative research. The Qualitative
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Report, 8(4), 597-606. Retrieved [Insert date], fromhttp://www.nova.edu/ssss/QR/QR8-

4/golafshani.pdf
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https://nsuworks.nova.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1870&context=tqr/

Joppe, M. (2000). The Research Process. Retrieved February 25, 1998,

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fromhttp://www.ryerson.ca/~mjoppe/rp.htm

Retrieved from https://www.thegraidenetwork.com/blog-all/2018/8/1/the-two-keys-to-quality-testing-

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