IT IS the purpose of this paper to attempt a clarification of the meaning of the terms &dquo;validity&dquo; and &dquo;reliability,&dquo; as they may be applied appropriately in an evaluation of sociometric tests. These instruments are being employed increasingly in educational and psychological research, having been in wide use by sociologists for a number of years. It is their intention to focus on an analysis of the individual as a member of a group, rather than on the individual as an entity in isolation.It seems pertinent, in view of the unique possibilities which sociometry affords through its use as a tool of psychological research, to try to define as clearly as possible its nature in relation to the methods more familiar to psychological workers. A psychometric orientation to the use of paper-and-pencil tests implies a frame of reference in their evaluation which is not immediately applicable to sociometry.'fhe Concept of &dquo;Validity&dquo; An operational definition of a psychological test would involve a statement to the effect that it is one in which an individual responds to a number of items, these responses being taken to be indirect evidence of the possession by that individual of certain characteristics to a certain degree. A sociometric test, on the other hand, requires the selection by each individual in a specified group of one or more other individuals in that group on the basis of stipulated criteria of choice. Expressed simply, in the former case, the individual &dquo;reports on&dquo; himself; in the latter, he &dquo;reports on&dquo; and is &dquo;reported on&dquo; by others.1 The writer wishes to thank Harold B. Pepinsky and John B. Holland for their careful reading of this paper and for their constructive criticism.
graduate assistants, who participated in various phases of the research; H. J. Ehrlich, who served as an observer; J. R. Hanson, who functioned as one of the trained "stooges"; and H. B. Pepinsky, who gave constructive criticism in the preparation of the manuscript. Sample copies of the forms used in the study are appended to the original technical report to ONR ( 14), which may be obtained on loan from the Gifts and Exchange De-
Angeles, for his invaluable advice in the initial planning stages of the experiment. They wish to thank Dr. Delos D. Wickens of the Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, for his cooperation in securing subjects.Acknowledgment is due also to Mr. Howard J. Ehrlich for his service as an observer, to the students who served as subjects in the experiment, and to Mrs. Arlene Bargar, Mrs. Ruth Ann Young, and Miss Evelyn Harris for their conscientious clerical assistance.
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