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Exploring the Reliability and Validity for the Values and Motives Questionnaire
Susan R. Kolarik
Liberty University
RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY 2
Exploring the Reliability and Validity for the Values and Motives Questionnaire
This paper will examine the reliability and validity for the Values and Motives Questionnaire.
According to Whiston (2013), reliability refers to “the consistency of such measurements when
the testing procedure is repeated on a population of individuals or groups” (pg. 40), and validity
shows what is measured and how well an instrument completed that measurement. According to
Whiston (2013) there will be variations in the measured constructs, considered to be errors, and
they can be calculated as reliability coefficients to determine how much error is in an instrument.
When reviewing the Values and Motives Questionnaire, also known as the Values and
Motives Inventory, (referred to as the VMQ for the remainder of this paper), the reliability was
estimated using the internal consistency measures of reliability. According to Whiston (2013),
this type of estimation utilizes one administration and the instrument form is singular. The VMQ
was not dichotomous, such as right or wrong, etc. therefore the coefficient alpha or Cronbach’s
Alpha was used to determine reliability with this instrument. The responses in the VMQ ranged
There are three types of validity according to Whiston (2013), (content related, criterion
related, and construct related). Content related validity examines questions that signify what
they claim to signify. Criterion related validity determines whether the instrument is a good
predictor of the criterion. Construct related validity determines how well the instrument
The VMQ provides the validity information for construct and content validity but not for
criterion validity. The relationship between each person’s test performance and their
performance in the future (predictive validity), would be difficult to know without a follow-up
on each person. Concurrent validity would be possible, if the information was present at the time
of the testing. Then the results of the test could be compared with the information already
available. When looking at the inter-correlations between the different scales, content validity
can be shown. The scales are independent from one to the other and have low correlations. The
content is proven through a review taken in the values arena and showed the test items were
relevant to the given construct. Interpersonal, extrinsic and intrinsic values were utilized to
ensure coverage.
RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY 4
References
Values and Motives Questionnaire: The Technical Manual (nd). Psytech International.