Validity and Validation in Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

Bruno D. Zumbo (Ph.D.) is Professor of Measurement, Evaluation, & Research Methodology with additional appointments in the Department of Statistics and the Institute of Applied Mathematics at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Prior to arriving at UBC in 2000, he held Professorships in the Departments of Psychology, Education, and Mathematics at the University of Ottawa and then the University of Northern British Columbia. Over the last 25 years his interdisciplinary program of research has emerged to have broad interdisciplinary impact and as such is well-recognized in a variety of disciplines including psychology, applied social science research (quality of life and well being), assessment, educational research, language testing, health and human development. His research on validity and validation is at the core of his program of research and has elements of working at the foundations of the discipline, including philosophy of science, scientific methodology as well as practical psychometric methods at the intersection of measurement, statistical science and mathematics. Professor Zumbo’s research and teaching have been recognized with international awards. He was recipient of the 2005 Samuel J. Messick Memorial Lecture Award for his work in validity, 2010 Research Fellow Award by the International Society for Quality of Life Studies and 2011/2012 UBC Killam Teaching Prize. He was also selected as a Fellow of American Educational Research Association (AERA) in 2011.Eric K. H. Chan (Ph.D.) received his doctorate from the University of Calgary in Mental Health and Counseling and completed his post-doctoral training in the Measurement, Evaluation and Research Methodology (MERM) Program at the University of British Columbia (UBC) under the supervision of Professor Zumbo. Eric specializes in psychometric methods, knowledge synthesis (systematic review and meta-analysis) and patient- (and client-) reported outcome measures (PROM) and patient- (and client) reported experience measures (PREM) and consulting. He currently holds a prestigious Fellowship with the Technology Evaluation in the Elderly Network (TVN), with a focus on establishing consensus-based best practice guidelines for the selection and utilization of PROMs and PREMs to inform heath care. Prior to his fellowships he held a research appointment at the Canadian Council on Learning, where he conducted and provided advice on a number of systematic review and meta-analytic projects for policy decision making.

Section I: Opening Section.- 1 Setting the Stage for and Purposes of Validity and Validation in Social, Behavioral and Health Sciences - Bruno D. Zumbo & Eric K. H. Chan.- 2 Review of Testing and Test Review Standards and Guidelines In Several International Jurisdictions - Eric K. H. Chan.- SECTION II: Quality of Life, Wellbeing and Life Satisfaction.- 3 Reporting of Measurement Validity in Articles Published in Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement - Bruno D. Zumbo, Eric K. H. Chan, Michelle Y. Chen, Wen Zhang, Ira Darmawanti, & Olievia P. Mulyana.- 4 A Research Synthesis of Validation Practices Used to Evaluate the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) - Mary L. Chinni & Anita M. Hubley.- 5 Validation Practices in Counseling: Major Journals, Mattering Instruments and the Kuder Occupational Interest Survey (KOIS) - Eric K. H. Chan, David W. Munro, Alexander H. S. Huang, Bruno D. Zumbo, Roya Vojdanijahromi, & Neelam Ark.- SECTION III: Psychology and Education.- 6 What Counts as Evidence? An Empirical Review of Validity Studies in Educational and Psychological Measurement - Benjamin R. Shear & Bruno D. Zumbo.- 7 Validity evidence presented in the Journal of Educational Psychology across two temporal periods - Rebecca J. Collie & Bruno D. Zumbo.- 8 A review of validity evidence presented in the Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology (2002-2012): Misconceptions and recommendations for validation research - Katie E. Gunnell, Benjamin J. I. Schellenberg, Philip M. Wilson, Peter R. E. Crocker, Diane E. Mack & Bruno D. Zumbo.- 9 The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS): A Review of the Reported Validity Evidence - Hillary L. McBride, Rachel M. Wiens, Marvin J. McDonald, Daniel W. Cox, & Eric K. H. Chan.- 10 Validity theory and validity evidence for scores derived from the Behavioural Regulation in Exercise Questionnaire - Katie E. Gunnell, Philip M. Wilson, BrunoD. Zumbo, Peter R. E. Crocker, Diane E. Mack & Benjamin J. I. Schellenberg.- 11 Synthesis of Validation Practices in Two Assessment Journals: Psychological Assessment and the European Journal of Psychological Assessment Anita M. Hubley, Sophie Ma Zhu, Ayumi Sasaki & Anne M. Gadermann.- SECTION IV: Health and Medicine.- 12 Reporting of Measurement Validity in Articles Published in Quality of Life Research - Eric K. H. Chan, Bruno D. Zumbo, Michelle Y. Chen and Wen Zhang, Ira Darmawanti & Olievia, P. Mulyana.- 13 Validity Evidence for a Perceived Social Support Measure in a Population Health Context - Daniel W. Cox & Jess J. Owen.- 14 Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-36 (SF-36) and the World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQoL) Assessment: Reporting of Psychometric Validity Evidence - Eric K. H. Chan, Bruno D. Zumbo, Wen Zhang and Michelle Y. Chen, Ira Darmawanti & Olievia, P. Mulyana.- 15 Reporting of Validity Evidence in the Field of Health Care: A Focus onPapers Published in Value in Health - Eric K. H. Chan, and Bruno D. Zumbo, Ira Darmawanti, & Olievia, P. Mulyana.- 16 Validation Practices of the Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) - Tavinder K. Ark, Neelam Ark, & Bruno D. Zumbo.- 17 (Mis)Alignment of Medical Education Validation Research with Contemporary Validity Theory: The Mini-CEX as an Example - Debra Sandilands & Bruno D. Zumbo.- SECTION V: Conclusions.- 18 Validation Practices in the Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences: A Synthesis of Syntheses - Juliette Lyons-Thomas, Yan Liu, & Bruno D. Zumbo.- 19 Reflections on Validation Practices in the Social, Behavioral and Health Sciences - Bruno D. Zumbo & Eric K.H. Chan.

"This book discusses validity theory and validation practices across different disciplines, an important endeavor because testing is used for making individual and public policy decisions. ... This well-written book addresses an important topic, since so many fields depend on tests and measurements to make critical decisions. It is a good resource for researchers and test users." (Gary B. Kaniuk, Doody's Book Reviews, March, 2015)

"This book by Zumbo and Chan is recommended for professionals working on development and validation of tests and measures and for researchers investigating on outcomes based on these instruments, because it discloses how things should be made in this matter and how really they are not." (Pablo Martinez-Martin, Applied Research in Quality of Life, Vol. 10, 2015)