A primer on the validity of assessment instruments.

Validity in research refers to how accurately a study answers the study question or the strength of the study conclusions. For outcome measures such as surveys or tests, validity refers to the accuracy of measurement. Here validity refers to how well the assessment tool actually measures the underlying outcome of interest. Validity is not a property of the tool itself, but rather of the interpretation or specific purpose of the assessment tool with particular settings and learners. Assessment instruments must be both reliable and valid for study results to be credible. Thus, reliability and validity must be examined and reported, or references cited, for each assessment instrument used to measure study outcomes. Examples of assessments include resident feedback survey, course evaluation, written test, clinical simulation observer ratings, needs assessment survey, and teacher evaluation. Using an instrument with high reliability is not sufficient; other measures of validity are needed to establish the credibility of your study.