To measure children's social skills, you decide to use the number of interactions children have with other children as your measure of social skills. As you collect data, you notice that some children who have many interactions do not seem to be very socially skilled because many of their interactions are negative. This makes you question the __________ of your measure.
A) sampling
B) stability
C) validity
D) reliability

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The situation described suggests that the measure being used (number of interactions) may not actually be a valid measure of social skills, as children with high numbers of interactions are not necessarily exhibiting positive, prosocial social behavior. Validity refers to the extent to which a measure actually assesses what it is intended to assess. The other answer choices (sampling, stability, reliability) are not relevant to the issue described.

To Measure Children's Social Skills, You Decide to Use the Number