When I say… validity

‘Validity’ reflects a characteristic of being ‘well grounded or justifiable’. This word has been applied to research study designs (internal and external validity), the degree to which a simulation activity reflects reality (simulation validity), and training effectiveness (training validity). However, when I say ‘validity’, I am nearly always referring to the degree to which the interpretations of scores resulting from an assessment activity are ‘well grounded or justifiable’. I never refer to the validity of interventions (training activities, including simulation) because that just creates confusion with the assessment perspective, and I try to avoid talking about valid study designs (although sometimes that can’t be helped).