Validity, criterion-related behavior

Audit instruments can be evaluated on the basis of three different types of validity when linking the audit to safety performance. These are content-related, criterion-related, and construct-related procedures for accumulating evidence of validity (Anastasi 1988, 139). Content-related validity involves the examination of the audit content to determine whether it covers a representative sample of the behaviors to be measured. Criterion-related validity procedures indicate the effectiveness of an audit in predicting performance in specified activities. The performance on the audit is checked against a criterion that is considered a direct and independent measure of what the audit was intended to measure. The third type of validity, construct validity, is the extent to which the audit is said to be measuring a theoretical construct or trait. Construct validation requires accumulation of information from a variety of sources. 

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