Why is it important to distinguish between reliability and validity?

What will be an ideal response?


Reliability refers to whether you will get similar measurements from a participant if you make repeated observations. Validity refers to whether the measurements you make are really useful in helping you understand the concepts you are studying.
Measurements can be reliable without being valid. Just because you get the same results when you test an individual repeatedly, it does not necessarily mean that you are making the right measurements. On the other hand, if you have valid results they must be reliable because if you are measuring what you want to measure, you should be able to measure in consistently, that is, reliably.

Political Science

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