In this article, I argue for a number of important changes to the conceptual foundations of construct validity theory. I begin by suggesting that construct validity theorists should shift their attention from the validation of constructs to the process of evaluating scientific theories. This shift in focus is facilitated by distinguishing construct validation (understood as theory evaluation) from test validation, thereby freeing it from its long-standing focus on psychological measurement. In repositioning construct validity theory in this way, researchers should jettison the outmoded but superficially popular notion that theories are nomological networks in favor of a more plausible pragmatic view of their natures, such as the idea that theories are explanatorily coherent networks. Consistent with this shift in understanding the nature of theories, my recommendation is that construct validation should embrace an explanationist perspective on the theory evaluation process to complement its focus on hypothetico-deductive theory testing. On this view, abductive research methods have an important role to play. The revisionist perspective on construct validity proposed here is discussed in light of relevant developments in scientific methodology and is applied to an influential account of the validation process that has shaped research practice.

中文翻译：

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重新定位建构有效性理论：从法理网络到实用理论及其解释性评估。

在本文中，我主张对建构效度理论的概念基础进行一些重要的改变。我首先建议建构有效性理论家应该将注意力从建构的验证转移到评估科学理论的过程。通过区分建构验证（理解为理论评估）和测试验证，促进了这种焦点的转变，从而将其从长期关注的心理测量中解放出来。在以这种方式重新定位建构有效性理论时，研究人员应该抛弃过时但表面上流行的理论是法理网络的观念，转而支持对其本质的更合理的实用主义观点，例如理论是解释性连贯网络的想法。与理解理论本质的这种转变相一致，我的建议是，构造验证应该在理论评估过程中采用解释主义的观点，以补充其对假设演绎理论检验的关注。从这个角度来看，溯因研究方法可以发挥重要作用。这里提出的关于建构有效性的修正主义观点是根据科学方法论的相关发展进行讨论的，并应用于对塑造研究实践的验证过程的有影响力的描述。