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Data that were originally gathered for a different purpose are often used to answer a research question, which can affect the applicability to the study at hand. Self-report of patients or subjects is required for many of the measurements conducted in health care, but self-reports of behavior are particularly subject to problems with social desirability biases. Several issues may affect the accuracy of data collected, such as those related to self-report and secondary data sources. The responsiveness of the measure to change is of interest in many of the applications in health care where improvement in outcomes as a result of treatment is a primary goal of research. Validity is the extent to which the interpretations of the results of a test are warranted, which depends on the particular use the test is intended to serve. Reliability estimates evaluate the stability of measures, internal consistency of measurement instruments, and interrater reliability of instrument scores. The process of developing and validating an instrument is in large part focused on reducing error in the measurement process. Key indicators of the quality of a measuring instrument are the reliability and validity of the measures. This is when data gathered from one instrument must correlate highly with data gathered from using another instrument.Issues related to the validity and reliability of measurement instruments used in research are reviewed. Predictive validity therefore is achieved if the data acquired at the first round of research correlates highly with that acquired later. An assessment for example can be used as a predictor when it is used to place children in groups. This involves predicting by means of assessment or technique performance on some other criterion. This can be done by ensuring elements of the wider issue under investigation and the items used have taken care of depth and breadth. The instrument must show that it comprehensively covers the items it claims to cover. It seeks to answer whether the content of the measure is representative. It deals with representativeness of the adequacy of the content of an instrument.
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Data obtained for instance from educational statistics or records can be unreliable if educational administrators fail to record information or make frequent errors in entering the data.
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In surveys, reliability problems commonly result when the respondents do not understand the question, are asked about something they do not clearly recall, or are asked about something of little relevance to them. Reliability of an instrument is increased by identifying the precise data needed and repeated use of the instrument in field testing. For example it is easier to determine the reliability of an instrument used to measure the performance of mathematics in a form 2 class, than an instrument used get their music ability. It is easier to determine reliability when dealing with information that can be quantified. If the results are different, then the measurement is unreliable. A reliable measurement is one that if repeated a second time will give the same results as it did the first time. Whenever an investigator measures a variable, he or she wants to be sure that the measurement provides dependable and consistent results. Reliability refers to the consistence, stability, or dependability of the data. However, when handling qualitative information such as feelings, likes, dislikes, opinions etc, validity is more difficult to determine. For example in growth monitoring, the height and weight of a child is easy to determine. Validity of an instrument is easy to determine if one is dealing with information that can be quantified. But if is reliable, it may or may not be valid. If a measurement is valid, it is also reliable. Data need not only to be reliable but also true and accurate. This refers to the extent to which a measurement does what it supposed to do. The reliability of the findings, conclusions and recommendations arrived at in any study largely depends on the validity, and reliability of the methods and instruments used in data collection. This section explains the technical meaning of these two concepts. This then requires that the tool for the collection of data is valid and reliable.
#What is validity and reliability in research how to#
In research the concern of an investigator is how to minimize possible errors and bias by maximizing the reliability and validity of data.