Running head: CONVERGENT AND DIVERGENT VALIDITY 1
Convergent and Divergent Validity
Joy Roe
SOUTHWESTERN ASSEMBLIES OF GOD UNIVERSITY
CONVERGENT AND DIVERGENT VALIDITY 2
Convergent and Divergent Validity
1. Introduction
I. Body Paragraph I: Truman Lee Kelly formulated the validity concept in his book
“Interpretation of Educational Measurement:” in 1927.
A. Validity of any given test is evidenced if it measures what it is intended to
measure.
II. Body Paragraph II: Cornball and Meehl invented construct validity in 1955.
A. Construct validity aims at measuring the extent to which a test captures a
specific theoretical construct, and it overlaps with some form of the other
validity aspects (Cronbach & Meehl, 1955).
B. Construct validity is formed of the convergent and divergent (discriminant)
validity.
2. Convergent Validity
I. Body Paragraph I: Construct validity is established through convergent validity after
a high correlation is experienced in tests having similar constructs.
A. The strength of the results obtained from the two research approaches will
determine the extent of the convergent validity (Chin & Yao, 2014).
II. Body Paragraph II: In convergent validity, a researcher uses two measures.
A. The first measure assist in highlighting the correlation between the two
assessments tools scores, which are considered as measuring a similar
construct (Dmitrienko et al., 2007).
B. Another means through which convergent validity is determined is by
employing the MTMM approach (multitrait-multimethod matrix) (Chin &
Yao, 2014)
3. Divergent Validity
I. Body Paragraph I: Construct validity is established through divergent validity when
the constructs that a researcher is interested in show no form of relationship to one
another.
A. To determine the construct validity in research, a researcher must first
determine the convergent validity before testing for divergent validity
(Hubley, 2014).
B. In divergent validity, the test scores should be near zero or very low making
them below the test scores observed in determining the existence of
convergent validity (Dmitrienko et al., 2007).
II. Body Paragraph II: Correlation between the two measure scores can be either positive
or negative.
A. High negative scores on any construct being measured; it does not indicate
that divergent validity exists (Hubley, 2014).
B. Similar measures that have a high correlation can be said to have a relatively
high convergent validity, and different measures that have relatively low
scores indicate the presence of divergent validity.
4. Methods of Evaluating Divergent and Convergent Validity
III. There are three main methods and they include;
A. Correlation sets
CONVERGENT AND DIVERGENT VALIDITY 3
a) The set of correlations allows a researcher to explore a more extensive
range of criterion variables when determining convergent and divergent
validity.
b) Using the nomological network forming the construct of interest, a
researcher develops an “eyeball of correlations” by ascertaining the degree
upon which similarities exist between the correlations (Furr, 2018).
c) As evidenced in a study by Hill et al. (2004), the convergent and divergent
validity were determined using this procedure .
B. Multitrait-Multimethod Matrices
a) Campbell and Fiske formulated the MTMMM in 1959 based on an
expansion of Cronbach and Meehl’s work (Campbell & Fiske, 1959).
b) Main aim of the MTMMM method is to determine the method and trait
variance, which affect the correlations between two measures.
C. Quantifying Construct Validity
a) Formulated by Western and Rosenthal (2003).
b) The researchers must determine the “fit” degree between the actual
correlation set obtained and the convergent and divergent correlation
predictions that had initially been set by the researchers.
c) During the quantifying construct validity, two types of results are
obtained; the “degree of fit” effect size results and test for significance.
5. Examples of Convergent and Divergent Validity
I. Convergent Validity
A. Study construct: Sleep quantity
B. Study used a self-completing survey and video monitoring for
observation.
C. The study will end up having two types of scores gathered using two
different methodologies.
D. In case there is a strong relationship between the two scores, it indicates
that there is convergent validity.
III. Divergent Validity
A. Construct 1: sleep quality
B. Construct 2: sleep quantity
C. The self-completing survey will contain questions on sleep quality and
sleep quantity.
D. Also, during observation, scores recorded must be different for sleep
quality and sleep quantity.
E. To determine whether the two constructs are different, the scores of
surveys on sleep quality, quantity, and observation for sleep quality and
quantity should have very little or no relationship and this represents
divergent validity.
CONVERGENT AND DIVERGENT VALIDITY 4
Convergent and Divergent Validity
Hello Friends? Greetings of the day to everyone! Today I am going to address a very
pertinent issue related to validity in research. Validity is an essential aspect of any research, as
the measurement of errors cannot only affect the ability to prepare good research but also the
overall findings. The main aim for measuring validity in research is to allow for replicability and
existence of data soundness, which indicates the results are accurate. Today, I will highlight the
general term “validity” and two fundamental concepts of validity, in this case, congruent and
divergent validity.
The Validity Concept
Truman Lee Kelly formulated the validity concept in his book “Interpretation of
Educational Measurement:” in 1927. Kelly believed that the validity of any given test is
