The Criteria of a Good Test

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1. Content Validity

Content validity is a test whose test items appropriate with the material and instruction which is given in the teaching learning process. However, according to Hopkins, the definition of content validity itself is the level of representativeness sample of content universe andor behavior of the domain which is measured in the test. 31 Moreover, Alderson et al. stated that “content validity is the representativeness or sampling adequacy of the content-the substance, the matter, and the topics-of a measuring instrument. The content means the material in the curriculum. That is why this kind of validity is also called as curricular validity. 32 Content validity is also defined as how good the representativeness of the domain of tasks in the test items. In analyzing content validity of the test, the tester should compare between test tasks and domain of the test in which it must be described considerately. According to Wiersma and Jurs, there are two methods for demonstrating the content validity of a test. The first method is by listing the specific objectives of the test that want to be reached and match them with each test item. And then, decide whether they have been appropriate or not. Another method is by constructing a table to classify the items’ content and taxonomic level, that is, student outcome required on the item. 33 The methods mentioned above are known as validation process. If a test does not have content validity, there could be some problem appeared. The first problem is the students could not show the skill that they have related to the material in the class. The second problem is the students 31 Kenneth D. Hopkins, Educational and Psychological Measurement and Evaluation, Boston: Viacom Company, Eight Edition., 1998, p. 77 32 J. Charles Alderson et al., Language Test Construction and Evaluation, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995, p. 173 33 William Wiersma and Stephen G Jurs, loc, cit. 16 could not answer the questions correctly because there is no appropriateness between the teaching material and the test given. From those problem, it can be concluded that content validity has an important role in teaching learning process. 2. Face Validity