What is the term for the validity that checks if an assessment accurately tests what is defined as the desired characteristics?

The correct answer, construct validity, refers to the extent to which a test accurately measures the theoretical construct or trait it is intended to measure. This concept is crucial for ensuring that an assessment appropriately reflects the characteristics or skills it claims to evaluate. For instance, if a test is designed to measure intelligence, construct validity would mean that the test genuinely assesses the cognitive abilities related to intelligence rather than unrelated factors.

Understanding construct validity involves looking at the underlying theory of what you're measuring. Researchers use various methods, including factor analysis and correlation with other assessments, to establish strong construct validity. This ensures the assessment is not just superficially related to the construct but genuinely captures its essence.

In contrast, face validity assesses whether a test appears to measure what it is supposed to measure based solely on a superficial inspection, which can sometimes be misleading. Criterion validity focuses on how well one measure predicts an outcome based on another, while concurrent validity examines how well a new test compares to an established measure taken at the same time. These other forms of validity are important but do not specifically capture the essence of what construct validity entails.