Running head: RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY 1

Exploring the Reliability and Validity for the Values and Motives Questionnaire

Susan R. Kolarik

Liberty University
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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.

These indications of error in measurements are referred to as standard error of measurement

(SEM). The above definitions will be used throughout this paper.

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

from strongly agree to strongly disagree.

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

measures a theoretical construct or trait.

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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.
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References

Values and Motives Questionnaire: The Technical Manual (nd). Psytech International.

Retrieved from the Liberty COUN 521 website on 07/05/2014

Whiston, S. C. (2013). Principles and Applications of Assessment in Counseling (Fourth

Edition). Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole

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