reliability

Question 1

what is reliability?

Answer 1

the extent to which a test/measurement produces consistent results

Question 2

what’s the difference between internal and external reliability?

Answer 2

internal = the extent to which something is consistent within itself eg a scales distance of 50-100g to 150-200g
external = the extent to which a test measures consistently over time

Question 3

what are the three ways of assessing reliability?

Answer 3

-split-half method
-test-retest method
-inter-observer reliability

Question 4

what is the split-half method?

Answer 4

measures internal reliability by splitting a test into two and having the same participant do both halves, if they have similar results it indicated high internal reliability

Question 5

what is the test-retest method?

Answer 5

measures external reliability, gives the same test to a participant on two different occasions, if the results are the same, its said to have high external reliability

Question 6

what is inter-observer reliability?

Answer 6

a way of assessing if different observers are viewing and rating behaviour the same way by conducting a correlation of all the observers scores, high correlation indicates consistency
improved by developing clearly defined and separate categories of observational criteria