Wading Through the Data Swamp:
Program Evaluation 201

Supplements

Validity and Reliability

Validity means measuring what you intend to measure. Example:

A bathroom scale

A valid measure of your weight is:

  1. A ruler
  2. A measuring cup
  3. A bathroom scale
  4. A driver's license exam

Reliability refers to how much you can trust the measurements and how replicable the results are. For example:

On Tuesday your bathroom scale says you weigh 150 lbs. On Thursday it says you weigh 180. Your bathroom scale has:

  1. High reliability
  2. Low reliability
  3. Sick sense of humor

<< Previous Page