Assessing Reliability

Question 1

what are the two types of reliability

Answer 1

internal and external

Question 2

external reliability

Answer 2

the extent to which a test produces consistent
results over several occasions.

Question 3

internal reliability

Answer 3

the extent to which a test or measure is consistent
within itself e.g. the use of standardised instructions and procedures for
all participants.

Question 4

what are reliability issues

Answer 4

1. Lack of operationalisation of the variables
2. order effects
3. lack of standardised procedures
4. inconsistency of measuring tools
5. uncontrolled environment

Question 5

how can order effects be combatted

Answer 5

counterbalancing

Question 6

what is counterbalancing

Answer 6

This involves splitting
the population/sample into two halves; the first half complete condition one
followed by condition two, the second half complete condition two followed
by condition one. This in effect negates the impact of order/practice effects, as both conditions are affected equally, and increases internal reliability

Question 7

why is lab environment better

Answer 7

helps to overcome most reliability issues. The
greater the level of control, the lower the risk of extraneous variables effecting
results.

Question 8

split half reliability

Answer 8

splitting a participant’s test answers in
half and seeing whether s/he got the same or similar scores on the two halves. If so,
internal reliability is high/individual questions would need to be
re-ordered or redesigned to improve reliability

Question 9

test retest reliability

Answer 9

testing and retesting the same participants over
time, with the same test, and comparing their scores. If the scores are the same, the
test has external reliability

Question 10

inter-rater reliability

Answer 10

where two or more psychologists produce consistent
results by using a standardised procedure, agreed coding system, or correlation of
their data.