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13 - Validation Research and Its Limits

from Part IV - Conclusion

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 January 2021

Carol A. Chapelle
Affiliation:
Iowa State University
Erik Voss
Affiliation:
Teachers College, Columbia University
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Summary

This chapter underscores the implicit messages about argument-based validity expressed in the volume. It highlights characteristics of validation illuminated by how the validation research was designed, carried out, interpreted, and presented by each researcher. The chapters show that argument-based validity applies not only to large-scale or high-stakes testing, but is relevant to a range of contexts where assessments are trusted and is called on at varying stages of test development. Argument-based validity has sufficiently detailed concepts for guiding research about technology-assisted testing methods, and it provides terms for defining different types of constructs. Argument-based validity frames research goals that are well-suited to mixed-methods designs, as illustrated in the chapters of this volume. The chapter ends by clarifying the limits of argument-based validation research by reviewing the facts about validation: Validity is not a yes-no decision about a test; validity is not an objective, deterministically derived result; and validity is not the sole responsibility of the experts. Argument-based validity does not change these facts, but rather provides a detailed and logical means of working within these parameters despite the desire of many test users for tests that have been validated by experts and can be adopted uncritically.

Type
Chapter
Information
Validity Argument in Language Testing
Case Studies of Validation Research
, pp. 325 - 344
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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References

American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association, & National Council on Measurement in Education. (2014). Standards for educational and psychological testing. Washington, DC: American Educational Research Association.Google Scholar
Jang, E., Wagner, M., & Park, G. (2014). Mixed methods research in language testing and assessment. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 34, 123153.Google Scholar
Kane, M. (2006). Validation. In Brennen, R. (Ed.), Educational measurement (4th ed., pp. 1764). Westport, CT: Praeger and Greenwood Publishing.Google Scholar
Kane, M., Crooks, T., & Cohen, A. (1999). Validating measures of performance. Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice, 18(2), 517.Google Scholar
Kremmel, B., & Harding, L. (2020). Towards a comprehensive, empirical model of language assessment literacy across stakeholder groups: Developing the language assessment literacy survey. Language Assessment Quarterly, 17(1), 100120.Google Scholar
Messick, S. (1989). Validity. In Linn, R. L. (Ed.), Educational measurement (3rd ed., pp. 13103). New York: Macmillan Publishing Co.Google Scholar
Mislevy, R. J., & Steinberg, L. S. (2003). Focus article: On the structure of educational assessments. Measurement: Interdisciplinary Research and Perspectives, 1(1), 362.Google Scholar

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