Page 122 - Composition in Convergence The Impact of the New Media on Writing Assessment

VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY 89

lidity, like reliability, involves "social values that have meaning and
force whenever evaluative judgments and decisions are made" (1989, p.
17). So to some degree, validity is a subjective interpretative process.
Because of the social value and subjective aspects of validity, there is an
inherently political side to validating a student writer's ability.
What makes Composition's use of validity and reliability partic-
ularly problematic is etymology. The terms validity and reliability
are historically grounded in the scientific approach to knowledge
and knowledge making, as well as the psychometric approach to
test measurement, which assumes several conditions for the com-
posing process:

• Writing is orderly and can be regulated. In the scientific method,
all actions and events happen in a regular, orderly manner. Even
when an environment is under great change and rapid fluctua-
tion, scientists presume there is still a degree of order that can
be observed under any condition.
• Writing is a knowable object. The assumption that anyone can
"know" writing is without proof. However, test and mea-
surement practitioners who follow the scientific method ar-
gue that writers, like other natural objects that exist in the
world and have unique characteristics, can be understood
and their actions explained by the same methods used to
study other natural phenomena.
• All writing has natural causes. Natural in the scientific sense
means not rooted in fundamentally religious, supernatural, or
magical forces. Once an object is determined to be natural, then a
cause-and-effect relation can be discerned. Depending on one's
personal or cultural philosophy, this statement can be debated.
• Writing is drawn from the acquisition of experiences. In the scien-
tific approach, writing is empirical because it relies on percep-
tions, experience, and observations. Individuals' perceptions
arise from sensory and abstract situations. Moreover, experi-
ences give rise to a knowledge base, as interactions with the
physical and social world affect one's perceptions. Observa-
tions allow persons to make generalizations, speculations, and
inferences based on earlier perceptions and experiences.

Therefore, the epistemic principles of validity and reliability in
writing assessment will create a sense of understanding about writ-
ing using a methodology based on an arrangement of clear, normed