Frontiers of Test Validity Theory

1    Introduction

Surveying the Field of Test Validity Theory

This book treats test validity theory from perspectives emphasizing measurement, causation, and meaning. This chapter provides a foundation for what follows with respect to key concepts used throughout the book. An introduction to key terminology appears in the next section. A brief overview of test validity theory and an overview of the key concepts of measurement, causation and meaning as they relate to test validity occupy the following two sections.

1.1.  Terminology

There was a time, toward the middle of the last century, when the demand that one define one’s terms could fluster even the most nimble theoretician. In the decades since, it has become clear that defining terms and ...