Which term refers to the ability of a test to measure the theoretical construct it is intended to assess?

• A. Construct Validity
• B. Validity
• C. Reliability
• D. Predictive Validity

Answer: (A)

The main idea here is whether a test truly captures the abstract concept it’s designed to measure. That quality is called construct validity. It asks if the test actually taps into the theoretical construct and reflects its properties in the observed data. To demonstrate construct validity, researchers examine how the test relates to other measures that should be related (convergent validity) and how it relates to measures that should be different (discriminant validity), as well as whether the test’s internal structure fits the theoretical model (often through factor analysis) and how it behaves across groups.

Validity in general covers various ways a test can be true to what it’s intended to measure, but construct validity specifically focuses on alignment with the underlying theoretical concept. Reliability is about consistency of scores, not whether the test measures the intended construct. Predictive validity is a particular type of validity tied to forecasting future outcomes, which is narrower than the broad idea of construct validity.

So, the ability of a test to measure the theoretical construct it’s meant to assess is best described as construct validity.