Republic of the Philippines

Department of Education
Region V
Division of Ligao City
LIGAO NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
Ligao City
Telefax No. (052) 485-11-37
E-mail Address: [email protected]

LEARNING ACTIVITY SHEET (LAS)

Name of Learner: _________________________________________________________________________

Grade Level: __________________________________ Section: __________________________________
Date: ________________________ Subject Teacher: ___________________________________________

RESEARCH INSTRUMENT, VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY

I. Most Essential Learning Competency

The learner constructs an instrument and establishes its validity and reliability (CS_RS12_IIa-
c-3).

II. Overview
One of the crucial parts of research that you might experience is the construction of a research
instrument. Why? Because developing a research instrument requires a lot of checking or validation from
the experts. Always take in mind that the quality of your research findings depends on the quality of your
research instrument.

III. Discussion

Instrument vs. Instrumentation

In research, an instrument is a general term used by the researcher for measuring devices such
as surveys, questionnaires, tests, checklist, etc. On the other hand, instrumentation is the action which
is the process of developing, testing, and using the instrument. Take note that instrument is the device
while instrumentation is a course of action (Prieto, Naval, and Carey 2017).
Now that you have learned the difference between instrument and instrumentation, let us now
explore the process of developing a research instrument.

Guidelines in Developing Research Instrument

Below are the given guidelines on how to develop research instrument used in qualitative research (Prieto,
Naval, and Carey 2017; Faltado et al. 2017):

Step 1. Background
• Do basic research on the chosen variables or construct of the research study. Choose a construct
that you can use to create the objective of the questionnaire. Construct means the characteristics
that you wish to measure or to evaluate in your research instrument (e.g. weight, academic
performance, etc.).
• After identifying the construct, it is easy to state the purpose or objective of the questionnaire
and the research questions as well.

Step 2. Questionnaire Conceptualization

• Select a response scale where the respondents answer the questions in your research study.
Some of the scales you might use in your research questionnaire are given below:
▪ Yes / No or Yes/No/Neither
▪ Likert Scale. This scale is used to measure behavior quantitatively.
Here is an example of Likert Scale:
3-point scale 4-point scale 5-point scale
Always Strongly Agree Very Satisfactory
Sometimes Agree Satisfactory
Never Disagree Neutral
Strongly Disagree Unsatisfactory
Very Unsatisfactory

• Create questions based on the objectives of the research study. These are the guidelines in
developing questions for your questionnaire:
▪ The questions should be clear, concise, and simple. Avoid lengthy and confusing
questions.
 ▪ Classify question under each statement based on your problem statement.
▪ Questions should be consistent within the needs of the study.
▪ Avoid using sensitive and debatable question.
▪ Avoid using jargon or unfamiliar words in question.

• Choose the type of questions in developing your questionnaire. It can be:

▪ Dichotomous questions. It refers to a question with only two choices such as “Yes/No”
or “Like/Dislike”.
▪ Open-ended questions. It refers to a question that normally answers the question “why”.
But take in mind that this type of question is usually used in qualitative research.
Example: What do you like most about your school?
_________________________________________________________
▪ Closed-ended questions. It is also called multiple-choice questions. It consists of three
or more choices.
Example: What is the highest educational attainment of your mother?
___ elementary ___ high school ___ college
▪ Rank- order Scale questions. This is a type of question that asks for ranking the given
choices or items.
Example: Rank the following based on their importance in work as SHS student. (3=
highest and 1=lowest)
__ doing homeroom activities
__ going to library
__ using computer
▪ Rating Scale questions. It is the Likert scale form. It is a type of question that measures
the weights of the response of the respondents.
Example:
Statement 3 2 1
I feel lazy doing homework.
I am motivates to learn because of interesting learning tools.

Step 3. Establishing the validity of the questionnaire

Once you have already done creating your research instrument, the next thing that you must
accomplish is to establish the validity of your instrument. What is validity in research? Why do you need
to assure that your instrument is valid?
Validity refers to a degree to which the instrument measures what it intends to measure. It
involves collecting and analyzing data to assess the accuracy of an instrument. An instrument could only
be valid if it measures what it’s supposed to. Establishing the validity of the instrument is important to
ensure that the instrument accurately measures what it really needs to measure.
Here are ways to assess the validity of a set of measurement:

• Face Validity. This is a subjective type of assessment of the research instrument. This is the
simplest and the easiest type of validity wherein the validator skims the overview of the
instrument in order to form an opinion. Moreover, it is often criticized as the weakest type of
validity used in research instruments (Stephanie, 2015).
For instance, you happened to see a questionnaire that measures mathematical ability
and you read the set of questions. Right after reading through the questions, you decided that it
seems like this is a good measure of mathematical ability. This shows that this is a subjective
judgment that clearly indicates its weakest form (Trochim 2020).

• Content Validity. This type of assessment refers to the appropriateness of the content of an
instrument. An expert to the content or professional that is familiar to the construct being
measured is needed in this type of validity. The expert makes a judgment about the degree to
which the items in the questionnaire cover all the relevant parts of the construct it aims to
measure. If by chance, some aspects are missing from the instrument or irrelevant aspects are
included, then the validity of the instrument is threatened (Middleton 2020).
For instance, you, as the researcher, proceeds to the expert to validate your research
instrument. The validator lays out all the criteria that should be met by your research
instrument. Then, the validator uses this set of criteria as a checklist to assess your instrument
(Ballera et.al 2019).

• Criterion Validity. This type of validity measures how well the relationship between the result
of your instrument to the result of another instrument. A criterion is an external measurement
of the same thing. To evaluate criterion validity, the correlation between the result of your
instrument and the result of the other instrument is computed. If it resulted in high correlation,
then your instrument truly measures what it intends to measure (Middleton 2020).
For example, an English teacher makes an instrument to measure students’ English
writing ability. In order to assess how well the instrument measures the student’s writing skills,
she finds an existing instrument that is considered a valid measurement of English writing ability
and compares the results when the same group of students takes both tests. If the results are
very similar, the instrument created by the teacher has a high criterion validity.
 • Construct Validity. It defines how well a test measures what it claims to measure. It is used to
know whether the operational definition of a construct aligns with the true theoretical meaning
of a concept.
A construct refers to a concept or characteristic that can’t be directly observed but can
be measured by observing other indicators that are associated with it. For instance, there is no
observable entity called “depression” that we can measure directly. But based on existing
psychological research and theory, we can measure depression based on a collection of symptoms
and indicators, such as low self-confidence and low energy levels (Middleton 2020).

Step 4. Establishing the reliability of the questionnaire

Reliability refers to how accurate and precise the measuring instrument is. It yields consistent
responses over repeated measurements. In order to have a reliable instrument, you need to have
questions that yield consistent scores when asked repeatedly.
Here are ways to assess the reliability of an instrument:

• Stability or Test-retest reliability. This is the simplest type of reliability where the same
questionnaire is administered twice to the same sample at a different point in time and the
correlation between two sets of scores is computed.
• Split-half method. Also called equivalent or parallel forms. This is done by administering two
different sets of questionnaires but with the same topic to the same sample and the correlation
between two sets of scores is computed.
• Internal consistency. This is when the instrument measures a specific concept. It is an estimate
based on a single form of a test administered on a single occasion.

Take in mind that all valid instrument is reliable but not all reliable instrument is valid. To clearly
understand this statement, let us say that you have flu and take a thermometer to measure your
temperature. The thermometer you used gives a reliable result but not always valid because the
thermometer is not calibrated accurately so the result might be 2 degrees lower than its true value.

Step 5. Pilot testing of the questionnaire

Once you have done assessing the validity and reliability of the instrument, the next step to take
is to pilot test the questionnaire before distributing it to the target respondents of the study. Pilot testing
is like pre-testing the instrument. You may find 10-15 people to answer the questionnaire. In this process,
participants could put remarks on some questions. This could help you to enhance your questions.

Step 6. Revise the questionnaire

After identifying some problem in your questionnaire, revise the questionnaire based on the
feedback of the participants during pilot testing. However, do not forget that the questionnaire should
match the research objective.

IV. Activity Proper

Directions: Accomplish the following activities in your notebook.

Activity 1. Based on the sample research instrument below, classify the types of questions used.
STUDENT SATISFACTION ON LIGAO CITY LGU SERVICES IN RESPONSE TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Dear student, thank you for being a respondent for this survey. Please help us improve our services by completing this survey.

Gender: ______ Female ______ Male

Age: ______ 15-16 y/o ______ 17-18 y/o _______ 19-20 y/o _______ 21 & above

1. What is your overall satisfaction rating with our Ligao City LGU response to COVID-19?
______ Very Satisfied
______ Somewhat Satisfied
______ Neither Satisfied nor Dissatisfied
______ Somewhat Dissatisfied
______ Very Dissatisfied
2. Please explain your answer in item 1:
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
3. Please rate your level of satisfaction in the quality of services provided by the Ligao City LGU.
5 = Very Satisfied 2 = Somewhat Dissatisfied
4 = Somewhat Satisfied 1 = Very Dissatisfied
3 = Neither Satisfied nor Dissatisfied

Indicators 5 4 3 2 1
Health assistance
Transportation
Financial assistance
Community quarantine security
Quarantine facility
Education

4. Please rank the following in order of importance from 1 to 5 with 1 indicating most important, 2 second most important,
and so on.
 _____ Financial assistance to poor families
_____ Intensification of transmission tracing and/or mass testing
_____ Preparation for Balik-Eskwela 2020-2021
_____ More vehicles for free transportation to workers
_____ Vaccination for Covid-19

1. Gender __________________________________
2. Age __________________________________
3. Question #1__________________________________
4. Question #2__________________________________
5. Question #3__________________________________
6. Question #4__________________________________

Activity 2. Recognize the types of validity/reliability used in each of the following scenarios. Choose the
letter of the best answer from the choices inside the box.

A. Face validity E. Stability

B. Content validity F. Split-half method
C. Construct validity G. Internal consistency
D. Criterion validity

____1. The expert assessed the instrument measuring the students’ ability to handle stress based on the
set of criteria that truly reflects the construct being measured. What type of validity is used by
the expert?
____2. An instructor distributes a set of tests to his class, a few weeks after, he distributes another
different test but on the same topic as the first set of tests. What type of reliability is used by the
instructor?
____3. An English class takes an English Proficiency Test and then take it again after a month so the
instructor can assess the reliability of the test. What type of reliability is used by the instructor?
____4. The researcher examines the questions on the instrument measuring the impact of mobile games
on the sleeping habits of the teenagers by simply skimming it. On its surface, the survey
questionnaire seems like a good representation of what it aims to measure. What type of validity
is being used by the researcher?
____5. The researchers conducted two different tests to their respondents. Afterward, they compared and
correlated the result of the test they created to the result of the test that already existed and
validated. They did this to assess how well their researchers-made-test measured what it
intended to measure. What type of validity is used by the researchers?

Activity 3. Construct a sample research instrument based on your research topic. You may use different
types of questions if you wish to. Follow the sample guide below in constructing the draft of your research
instrument.

_________________________________________________
(Research Title)
Objective:____________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________

I. Respondent’s Profile (if needed) such as name, age, gender, etc.

II. Research Questionnaire

Direction: ______________________________________________________________________

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

V. Reflection
Nowadays, social media is widely used by people to easily access news and information around
the world. Yet, a lot of fake news surround in social media that threatened the knowledge and belief of
an individual. As a responsible student, how are you going to make sure that the news and information
that you see in social media are valid and reliable before believing and sharing them to others? How can
you relate your learnings in this situation? Write your answer in your notebook. You may also share your
idea to your family members or friends.
VI. Assessment
Directions: Read and analyze the following statements. Choose the letter of the best answer and write it
in your notebook.

1. It is an assessment that refers to the consistency of the result.

A. Criterion C. Reliability
B. Instrument D. Validity

2. Which statement is correct about the validity and reliability of an instrument?

A. A reliable instrument is always valid.
B. A valid instrument is always reliable.
C. A valid instrument is not always reliable.
D. A reliable instrument does not need to be valid.

3. What type of question is presented in the box below?

What comes first to last when it comes to your most preferred mobile game? Put 1 to your most
preferred mobile game, 2 to your second preferred game and 3 to the least preferred game.

___ Mobile Legend (ML) ___ League of Legend (LOL) ___ Call of Duty (COD)

A. Close-ended question C. Rank-order question

B. Dichotomous question D. Rating-scale question

4. In Senior high school, all the students were given a pretest at the beginning of the semester. And
then at the end of the semester, all the students were given a posttest. The content of the pretest
and posttest were usually the same. What type of reliability is applied in this scenario?
A. Construct C. Internal Consistency
B. Criterion Validity D. Stability/Test-Retest

5. The researcher created an instrument to measure the perception of the people on the effects of
Covid-19 to their life. The researcher used some terms in his survey questions that are known to be
unfamiliar to the ordinary people. What do you think is the mistake made by the researcher in
formulating his questions?
A. Use of jargon words in the questions
B. Use of sensitive words in the questions
C. Use of words in the questions that are broad in meaning
D. Use of words in the questions that are not anchored in the aims of the study

VII. References
Glen Stephanie. 2015. Face validity: Definition and examples. StatisticsHowTo.com: Elementary
Statistics for the rest of us! https://www.statisticshowto.com/face-validity/
Faltado III, Reuben E., Medardo B. Bombita, Helen B. Boholano, and Angeline Pogoy. 2017. Practical
Research 2 (Quantitative Research for SHS), 79-82. Cubao, Quezon City: Lorimar Publishing.
Middleton, Fiona. 2020. The four types of validity. Scribbr.
https://www.scribbr.com/author/fionamiddleton/
Prieto, Nelia G., Victoria C. Naval, and Teresita G. Carey. 2017. Practical Research 2: Quantitative, 112-
114. Cubao, Quezon City: Lorimar Publishing Inc.
Trochim, William. 2020. Measurement validity types. https://conjointly.com/kb/measurement-validity-
types/

Prepared by:

JOSE ANGELO S. NATE