reliability

• What are the two central concepts in conducting good research?

  Reliability and validity
• What does reliability concern in research?

  Consistency of measurements
• What does validity concern in research?

  Legitimacy of data representing reality
• If a ruler gives different measurements for the same chair, what does this indicate?

  The ruler is not reliable
• What must any tool used for measurement be?

  Reliable and consistent
• What is inter-rater reliability?

  Agreement between observers' observations
• How is inter-rater reliability measured?

  By correlating observations of observers
• What percentage agreement indicates absolute reliability?

  More than 80%
• How can reliability in observations be improved?

  By training observers with a coding system
• What is internal reliability?

  Consistency within a measurement tool
• What should all questions on an IQ test measure?

  The same underlying construct
• What is external reliability?

  Consistency over several related occasions
• What should happen if an interview is repeated with the same interviewee?

  The outcome should be the same
• Why might some questionnaires not have internal reliability?

  Contextualizing material may be too important