reliability

Question 1

reliability

Answer 1

Refers to how consistent a measuring device is

Question 2

Test-retest reliability

Answer 2

a method of assessing the reliability of a questionnaire or psychological test by assessing the same person on two separate occasions. This shows to what extent the test produced the same answers.

Question 3

Inter-observer reliability-

Answer 3

the extent to which there is agreement between two or more observers involved in observations of a behaviour. This is measured by correlating the observations of two or more observers.

Question 4

reliability explanation

Answer 4

Reliability is a measure of consistency. So if a measure of something can be replicated then it is reliable →eg a ruler should always be reliable/consistent with its measurements

But psychologists tend to not measure concrete things such as height but prefer more abstract concepts.

Question 5

test-retest reliability explanation

Answer 5

• Administer the same test or question to the same person on different occasions
• For the test to be reliable, then the answers should be near enough the same
• Commonly used with questionnaires and psychological tests
• Must be sufficient time between test and retest to ensure that recall of answers is not possible.
• The sets of scores would be correlated
• If the correlation is significant then the reliability is assumed to be good

Question 6

inter observer reliability explanation

Answer 6

• Subjectivity is an issue in observational research
• A pilot study may be used to ensure that the observers are applying behavioural categories
• All data should be reported separately to assess reliability

Question 7

measuring reliability

Answer 7

• Measured using correlational analysis
• The correlation coefficient should exceed +.80 for reliability

Question 8

improving reliability of quesionnaires

Answer 8

A questionnaire with low test-retest reliability may need some items to be deselected or rewritten. Complicated questions may be interpreted differently by the same person on different occasions. Therefore some questions need to be replaced.

Question 9

improving reliability of interviews

Answer 9

The same interviewer should be used every time. Or all interviewers must be properly trained so that no interviewers are asking leading questions. This is easily avoided in structured interviews as unstructured interviews are less likely to be reliable.

Question 10

improving reliability of observations

Answer 10

Behavioural categories must be properly operationalised. Categories should not overlap and all possible behaviours must be accounted for.If reliability is low, observers need further training.

Question 11

improving reliability of experiments

Answer 11

The procedures must be standardised to allow for easy comparison.