A test yields consistent results across administrations but does not measure the intended construct.

• A. A test yields consistent results across administrations but does not measure the intended construct.
• B. A test is valid but not reliable.
• C. A test is neither reliable nor valid.
• D. A test is perfectly reliable and perfectly valid.

Answer: (A)

Reliability means the test gives consistent results across administrations, while validity means it actually measures the construct it’s intended to measure. If a test yields the same results on different occasions but those results don’t reflect the intended construct, it is reliable but not valid. That’s why the scenario describes a test that is consistent (reliable) yet fails to measure what it’s supposed to measure (not valid).

For example, a thermometer that always reads 2 degrees high is reliable (consistent) but not valid for measuring true body temperature. The other options describe situations that don’t match the given scenario: valid but not reliable would show consistency issues; neither reliable nor valid would fail to show reliability; perfectly reliable and perfectly valid would meet both criteria, which the scenario explicitly says it does not.