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Goodness of measures
Attempt to measure whether a particular concept accurately
measures the variable
The use of better instruments will ensure more accuracy of
results
The researcher is to be reasonably sure that the instruments
used in the research do indeed measure the variables they are
supposed to do so
Item analysis, Reliability and Validity
Item analysis is used to find if the items in the instrument
belong there or not
Each items high-score and low-score averages are tested to
detect significant difference (t-test)
Items with high t-value are included
Reliability tests the consistency of measuring instrument
Validity measures how well an instrument measures a concept
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Reliability and Validity

Reliability refers to the extent to which a scale produces
consistent results if repeated measurements are made
To what extent the measure is error free
Indicates stability and consistency to help assess goodness
of a measure
a. Stability of measure
Ability of a measure to remain same over time
a.1.Test-Retest Reliability
The same reliability co-efficient obtained with a repetition
The responses of a particular respondent remain same after
sometime
if the correlation between the scores obtained at different
time is higher, the better test-retest reliability
a.2. Parallel-Form reliability
When responses on two comparable sets of measures
tapping the same construct
are highly correlated
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b. Consistency of Measures
Indicative of the homogeneity of the items in the
measure that tap a construct
The items and subsets of the items in the measuring
instruments are to be highly correlated
b.1. inter-item consistency reliability
Test the consistency of respondents answers
Most popular test of inter-item consistency is
Cronbanchs Alpha
The higher the co-efficient, the better the measuring
instruments
b.2. Split-half reliability
Reflects the correlations between two halves of an
instrument
The higher the coefficient, the better the measuring
instrument
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Validity
Measures the reasonability of instruments to measure
a concept
Content validity, criterion validity & construct validity
1. Content Validity
Measures the set of items are adequate and
representative
Shows how well dimensions and elements are
delineated
2. Criterion validity
Differentiates individuals on a criterion it is expected to
predict
Two types: concurrent validity and predictive validity
Concurrent validity is established when the scale
discriminates individuals, who are known to be different
Eg: the opinion on work perception by more
enthusiast and less enthusiast must be different
Predictive validity indicates
the ability of the measuring
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instrument to differentiate
among individuals with

3. Construct Validity
How well the results obtained from the use of the
measure fit the theoretical framework of the study
Assessed through convergent validity & discriminant
validity
Convergent validity is established when the scores
obtained with two different instruments measuring the
same concept are highly correlated (Numeracy skill and
score in physics)
Discriminant validity is established when two variables
are predicted to be uncorrelated (Mathematical skill
and linguistic skills)

Refer: Sekaran, U: BRM 4 edn,

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Zikmund et al. 2013. BRM, pp.