Learning and Evaluation/Archive/Learning modules/3Criterion Validity

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Criterion Validity

Does the measure produce results that correspond with a superior one?

Does the measure correspond with another known/valid measure?

Objective: A program leader wants to know the quality of articles that students produce in a Wikipedia Education Program.

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1. Very poor criterion validity: Program leader relies only on self-report of respondents.

When someone self-assesses the quality of their own work, they typically have a poor idea how they compare to others. This makes for very poor criterion validity since individuals can only compare the quality of their work to themselves.

2. Poor criterion validity: Program leader measures the number of good articles as the only measurement for quality.

Relying only on the number of good articles is not the best measure for quality. Different Wikimedia projects have different measures for "good articles."

3. Better criterion validity: Number of good articles and compares this to peer or teacher assessment of student's work.

The third option has better criterion validity because even if students edit Wikipedia in more than one language, the teacher or peer-review might help to normalize the differences across Wikimedia projects.