What term refers to the accuracy of a test in measuring the construct it is intended to?

The term that refers to the accuracy of a test in measuring the construct it is intended to is construct validity. Construct validity is crucial because it assesses whether a test truly measures the theoretical concept or construct it claims to, rather than irrelevant factors. This validity involves evaluating the relationships between the test and other measures or outcomes that should be related, as well as ensuring that it distinguishes between different constructs effectively.

For instance, if an intelligence test is intended to measure cognitive abilities, construct validity would be evidenced by the test's ability to predict performance on other measures of intelligence and cognitive tasks. The higher the association with established theories or constructs in psychology, the stronger the construct validity of the test.

In contrast, internal validity involves how well an experiment is set up to determine cause-and-effect relationships, face validity is about how appropriate a test appears on the surface, and content validity ensures that the test covers the entire content of what it is supposed to measure. These are important aspects of test evaluation but do not specifically address how accurately a test measures the intended construct like construct validity does.