ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we consider the ways psychologists’ understanding of the meaning of the construct “validity” and of the links between the procedures used to investigate and establish validity and this construct have evolved over the last 50 years (Angoff, 1988; Langenfeld & Crocker, 1994). At one time, psychologists spoke of different types of validity and advocated several seemingly distinct strategies for defi ning and estimating the validity of tests (American Psychological Association et al., 1954; Guion, 1980; Landy, 1986). In particular, it was assumed that there were substantial and important distinctions between content, construct, and criterion-related validity, and this assumption was incorporated into the guidelines that still regulate the enforcement of equal employment law in the United States (Guion, 1980; Kleiman & Faley, 1985; Uniform Guidelines, 1978). Other variants, including synthetic validity (Lawshe, 1952) and convergent and discriminant validity (Campbell & Fiske, 1959) were introduced, adding to the complexity of the debate about how to defi ne and understand validity.
