A researcher is assessing the content validity of items on a new psychological test using Lawshe’s Content Validity Ratio.

A panel of 20 experts is asked to rate whether each item is “essential”, “useful but not essential”, or “not necessary”. For one item, 16 of the 20 experts rate the item as “essential”.

What is the Content Validity Ratio for this item?

Question

A researcher is assessing the content validity of items on a new psychological test using Lawshe’s Content Validity Ratio.

A panel of 20 experts is asked to rate whether each item is “essential”, “useful but not essential”, or “not necessary”. For one item, 16 of the 20 experts rate the item as “essential”.

What is the Content Validity Ratio for this item?

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

Lawshe’s Content Validity Ratio (CVR) is defined as CVR = (ne − N/2) / (N/2), where ne is the number of experts who rated the item “essential” and N is the total number of experts.

Step-by-step calculation:
1. Identify values: ne = 16 (experts saying “essential”), N = 20 (total experts).
2. Compute N/2: 20 / 2 = 10.
3. Compute the numerator: ne − N/2 = 16 − 10 = 6.
4. Compute the denominator: N/2 = 10.
5. Compute CVR: 6 / 10 = 0.6.

Thus CVR = 0.60.

Why this is the correct metric: CVR adjusts the raw count of “essential” ratings by centering on the midpoint (half the panel) and scales the result so values range from −1 (no experts say essential) to +1 (all experts say essential). A CVR of 0.60 indicates substantially more than half of the panel rated the item essential.

Why the other options are incorrect:
- 0.00 would occur if exactly half the panel rated the item essential (ne = 10). That is not the case here (ne = 16).
- 0.80 corresponds either to ne = 18 (since (18−10)/10 = 0.8) or would reflect the raw proportion 16/20 = 0.80 if someone mistakenly used the proportion instead of Lawshe’s formula. Using the correct formula gives 0.60, not 0.80.
- 1.60 is impossible because CVR is bounded between −1 and +1; it likely arises from a misapplied calculation (for example, treating 16/10 = 1.6) but that ignores the formula’s denominator meaning and the valid range.

Confirming final answer: the Content Validity Ratio for this item is 0.60, which matches the provided correct answer.

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