Reliability and validity relationship – UGC NET Question

Statement C is wrong because reliability, while necessary, is not sufficient to guarantee validity; a test can consistently measure the wrong construct. Statements A, B, D and E are correct: a test may be reliable but invalid, a test lacking reliability cannot be valid, validity refers to measuring the intended construct and reliability refers to consistent results. Therefore, C alone is the incorrect statement about their relationship.

Option A:
Option A is incorrect because it labels both A and C as wrong, even though A is true in pointing out that a consistently wrong test can be reliable but invalid. Rejecting A misstates an important nuance in measurement theory.

Option B:
Option B is wrong because it groups B and C as incorrect, despite B correctly stating that validity is impossible without some degree of reliability. Without reliability, scores are too unstable to represent any construct.

Option C:
Option C is also incorrect since it combines C with D as wrong, and D accurately defines validity as measuring what the instrument purports to measure. Misclassifying D would confuse the concept of validity.

Option D:
Option D is correct because it isolates C as the only statement that wrongly equates reliability with validity and implicitly affirms A, B, D and E as accurate descriptions of how these two properties are related.