Face Validity

What is Face Validity?

Lead consultant at Test Partnership, Ben Schwencke, explains face validity.

Face validity relates to the extent to which a psychological assessment appears to measure what it is intended to measure. It is a measure of how the assessment appears to measure the construct it was designed to measure. For example, a test that measures intelligence should look like it is measuring intelligence. A test that has face validity appears to measure the construct it is supposed to measure.

Face validity is often determined by asking participants or experts to evaluate the test and provide their subjective opinion on whether the test appears to measure the construct it was designed to measure. The extent to which a test is considered to have face validity can vary depending on the opinion of the participant or expert evaluating the test. It is important to note that face validity does not necessarily indicate that a test is actually measuring the construct it is supposed to measure, it only indicates that the test appears to measure the construct.

Unlike content validity, which measures if a test measures all relevant aspects of a construct, and criterion-related validity, which measures if a test predicts a criterion or outcome, face validity is a preliminary step in evaluating the validity of a test. It is often used as a quick way to evaluate the test, but it should not be used as the sole indicator of a test's validity.