Social Validity

Synonyms

Acceptability; Intervention satisfaction; Subjective assessment

Definition

Social validity refers to the acceptability of and satisfaction with intervention procedures, usually assessed by soliciting opinions from the people who receive and implement them.

Description

Intervention procedures for child behavior are socially valid when people judge them as being acceptable. Typically, social validity assessment is conducted by questioning the recipients of intervention and the individuals responsible for procedural implementation. For example, a child who receives a school-based intervention might be asked about the appropriateness of the procedures that were used by the classroom teacher (e.g., did they make the student "stand out" among other students?). In turn, the teacher might be queried about the complexity of the intervention procedures, time required for implementation, and satisfaction with the outcome. The information gathered from social validity