Reliability across all methods of investigation!

Question 1

What is reliability

Answer 1

is consistency - the consistency of measurements. We would expect any measurement to produce the same data if taken on successive occasions.

Question 2

Reliability of observational techniques

Answer 2

Assessing reliability

The observer to
repeat the observations a second time (e.g. by watching a video recording). If the observations are reliable then the second set of observations should be more or less the same as the first set.

But observer may be biased Therefore a better way to assess accuracy is to have two or more observers making separate recordings and then compare these records.
The extent to which the observers agree on the observations they record is called inter-observer reliability.

This can be calculated as a correlation coefficient for pairs of scores. A result of .80 or more suggests good inter-observer reliability.

Improving reliability: behavioural catergories

-It may be that the behavioural categories were not operationalised clearly enough, so one observer interpreted an action as ‘hitting’ whereas another interpreted it as’touching! So behavioural categories need to be clearer.
- It may be that some observers just need more practice using the behavioural categories so they can respond more quickly.

Question 3

Reliability of self-report techniques

Answer 3

Assessing reliability: Test-retest reliability

Test-retest reliability: The same test or interview is given to the same participants on two occasions to see if the same results are obtained.

*Assessing reliability: Inter-interviewer reliability *

Comparing answers on one occasion with answers from the same person with the same interviewer a week later. Or, the researcher might want to assess the reliability (consistency) of two interviewers using the same method as with two observers.

Improving reliability: Reduce ambiguity

Test items (or questions on a questionnaire) need to be re-examined and rewritten.

Question 4

Reliability of experiments

Answer 4

Improving reliability: Standardisation

Procedures.
The procedures are often repeated for different participants.
-procedures are exactly the same each time because otherwise we can’t compare the performance of participants.

For this reason procedures are standardised
If another researcher wishes to repeat the experiment, they also need to use exactly the same procedures.