The Pursuit of Validity in the Evaluation of Training Programs

Abstract

Validity in the evaluation of training programs is conceptualized into a hierarchy of four stages. The first stage is the establishment of training validity which is based upon performance in the training environment. The second stage, performance validity, is concerned with the performance of the training group in another environment, i.e., the transfer setting. The third stage, intra-organizational validity, considers the question of generalizeability to new groups of trainees who will perform in the same organizational environment where performance validity was established. The final stage, interorganizational validity, concerns the generalizability of training results to trainees in a different organization. For each of these stages, the paper presents an analysis of need assessment and evaluation components which must be considered.