Which type of validity ensures the content of a test represents the domain it's intended to measure?

• A. Face validity
• B. Construct validity
• C. Content validity
• D. Criterion validity

Answer: (C)

Ensuring the test items cover the full domain of knowledge or skills it’s meant to assess is what content validity is all about. This type of validity is demonstrated when experts review the items and confirm that the test samples the entire content area in a way that mirrors the official standards or curriculum, including representative topics and appropriate proportions. When the items map onto the domain and you’d expect to see in the real world of that subject, the test is considered to have good content validity.

Face validity looks at whether the items appear to measure the right thing to test-takers, which is about appearance rather than actual domain coverage. Construct validity concerns whether the test truly measures the theoretical construct and relates to other measures in predictable ways. Criterion validity deals with how well the test predicts or correlates with external outcomes.