English 9 4.2 - Validity & Soundness
English 9 4.2 - Validity & Soundness
LESSON 11
VALIDITY AND SOUNDNESS
Competency: Judge the validity of the evidence listened to (EN9LC-IVh-2.15)
At the end of this module the students are expected to:
Validity is important because it measures the accuracy of results within a study and
therefore the degree to which you can make assumptions, correlations and relationships from data.
Evidence cannot be reliable if it has poor validity, however if it has poor reliability it cannot be
valid.
Validity of a measurement produce means the degree to which the measurement process
measures the variable it claims to measure. Validity of a research study means the degree to which
the study accurately answers the questions intended to answer.
However, validity cannot be determined by just one statistic, but a collection of statistics
that demonstrate the relationship or the correlation between the variables.
DAY 1
Word Search. Encircle at least 5 words and write a sentence connecting these words to our topic.
A S T A T E M E N T U X S W S R P R E M I S E S D V
D F S D D E S G N X E S Z S T S I T N E I C S S S V
G D E V S F C U S M A D S A D F S R S D E A F V X S
Z S C N N E V V A L I D Q Q A D A E E A E C L N Z V
S X R G J O P T G U H R E A Q A D P O L I C E F J V
G F U K E Q S V F N W T S S D Y U X A V N R X Z W A
K Y O L S S S T A T I S T I C E G D U J S I E G J N
O G S W F U J P I C O G E N T A A F G M R D A N R J
R T G E I G G O Q W R S E V A L U A T E D E D D Y Q
E L B A T U P E R X B V G D S D W D R X S T V D S A
S D A G S F A Q S T C Z S B F B A E A G F E H J D A
A B G K O H W K V S I S E H T O P Y H F U D S O S A
G M J P U S R L N S G J N V U O S Q W E P M D B X O
R B N L N Y Y F P H Z A V D D K D Q D C T Y E Q D W
V A P G D E T A U L A V E A G D G X G S H U J N Q R
Z Y L D N Z N Q Q F V J A Q D G B D V C K I A E T F
B R E R B C C T E S E S W E V B A K Q Q L S A Q S A
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
DAY 2
English 10 | 1
A deductive argument proves its conclusion ONLY if both are valid and sound.
Validity: An argument is valid when, all of its premises were true, then the conclusion would also
HAVE to be true.
In other words, a “valid” argument is one where the conclusion necessarily follows from the
premises. It is IMPOSSIBLE for the conclusion to be false if the premises are true.
Note #1: IF (1) and (2) WERE true, then (3) would also HAVE to be true.
Note #2: Validity says nothing about whether or not any of the premises ARE true. It only says that IF they
are true, then the conclusion must follow. So, validity is more about the FORM of an argument, rather than the TRUTH of an argument.
So, an argument is valid if it has the proper form. An argument can have the right form, but be totally false. For example:
1. Daffy Duck is a duck.
2. All ducks are mammals.
3. Therefore, Daffy Duck is a mammal.
The argument just given is valid. But, premise 2 as well as the conclusion are both false. Notice however that, IF the premises
WERE true, then the conclusion would also have to be true. This is all that is required for validity. A valid argument need not
have true premises or a true conclusion. On the other hand, a sound argument DOES need to have true premises and a true
conclusion:
An argument that has true premises (regardless of whether it is valid or invalid) is said to be factually correct. An argument that
is both valid and factually correct is sound .
Soundness: An argument is sound if it meets these two criteria: (1) It is valid. (2) Its premises are true.
In other words, a sound argument has the right form AND it is true.
Note #3: A sound argument will always have a true conclusion. This follows every time these 2 criteria for soundness are met.
Do you see why this is the case? First, recall that a sound argument is both valid AND has true premises. Now, refer back to the definition
of “valid”. For all valid arguments, if their premises are true, then the conclusion MUST also be true. So, all sound arguments have true
conclusions.
Looking back to our argument about Daffy Duck, we can see that it is valid, but not sound. It is not sound because it does not have all true
premises. Namely, “All ducks are mammals” is not true.
So, the argument about Daffy Duck is valid, but NOT sound. Here’s an example of an argument that is valid AND sound:
1. All rabbits are mammals.
2. Bugs Bunny is a rabbit.
3. Therefore, Bugs Bunny is a mammal.
In this argument, if the premises are true, then the conclusion is necessarily true (so it is valid). AND, as it turns out, the
premises ARE true (all rabbits ARE in fact mammals and Bugs Bunny IS in fact a rabbit)—so the conclusion must also be
true (so the argument is sound).
DAY 3
English 10 | 2
Responding. Read the following premises and identify whether it is Valid and Sound or Just Valid, support your answer.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
English 10 | 3
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________
PARENT STUDENT
______________________________________
Parent/Guardian
English 10 | 4
English 10 | 5