Reliability Flashcards
What is reliability?
The extent to which a test produces consistent results
what are the two types of reliability?
internal reliability & external reliability
what is internal reliability?
Whether the test is consistent in itself
What is an example of internal reliability?
Whether the different questions in a questionnaire are all measuring the same thing
what is external reliability?
the extent to which a test produces consistent results over several occasions
What is an example of external reliability?
If we repeated an IQ test on a different day, we would expect the same result
What are causes of reliability issues? (4 points)
- Lack of operationalisation of the variables
- Order effects
- Lack of standardised procedures
- Inconsistency of measuring tools
What are examples of lack of standardised procedures?
Instructions aren’t given/questions aren’t worded in the same way to each participant
why is a lack of operationalised variables a reliability issue?
If you don’t state how you are defining and measuring your variables, it makes replication impossible and makes inter-rater reliability issues more likely
why are order effects a reliability issue?
order effects occur in a repeated measures design. Whilst completing the second condition the participant can become better practised at the task the second time around, or underperform due to boredom
how do we deal with reliability issues?
(2 points)
- using a standardised procedure, instructions and scientific measuring equipment
- using a laboratory environment
how do we deal with order effects?
Using counterbalancing :
get half of the participants to complete condition a then condition b and the other half vice versa.
what are the three ways of assessing reliability?
- split half reliability/ testing
- test retest reliability
- inter-rater reliability
What type of reliability does split half reliability test?
Internal reliability
what is split half reliability/ testing?
splitting a participants test answers in half and seeing whether they got the same or similar scores scores on the two halves. if they are similar, internal reliability is high, if not, the questions either need to be reordered or redesigned.
Which type of reliability does test-retest reliability test?
External reliability
what is test-retest reliability?
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
what is inter-rater reliability?
When you get 2 or more observers to observe the participants and they record what they see. If their results are similar then there is high internal reliability.
What does inter-rater reliability get rid of?
Observer bias
