Some Recommendations for Improving Measurement Validation in Social Work Research

The importance of constructs and their validation in social work research is asserted. A taxonomy of validity types is offered, drawing from a psychometric and research literature that has evolved over the last four decades. Special emphasis is given to the role of construct validity in social work research, and recent advances in the assessment of construct validity are discussed. Selected textbooks, sourcebooks, and journal articles used and written by social workers are reviewed to show that measurement validity is often incompletely or inaccurately discussed and applied. Recommendations are made for communicating about and applying validation principles.