RELIABILITY

Floramae Z. Campos

Student/MA-GC
 MEANING

• Reliability is one of the important characteristics of any

test.
• It refer to the precision or accuracy of the measurement
of score.
• Reliability refers to the stability of a test measure or
protocol.
• Measures of test reliability make it possible to estimate
what proportion of total variance of test scores is error
variance.
– Rosenthal(1991): Reliability is a major concern when a
psychological test is used to measure some attribute or
behaviour.
– Anastasi (1968): Reliability refers to the consistency of scores
obtained by the same individuals when reexamined with test on
different occasions, or with different sets of equivalent items, or
under other variable examining conditions.
What makes a good test?

– The test measures what it claims to measure consistently and

reliably.
– The test measures what it claims to measures. (test of mental
ability)
– The test is job-relevant.
– By using the test, more effective employment decisions can be
made about individuals.
 Measurement theory:
– An observed score (X) consists of two components, a true score (T) and error score (E):
– T (true score) is the measure of the ability or characteristic that we are interested in.
– E (error score) is measurement error, which is anything that is NOT the thing we want to
measure.
– Classical Test Theory
– X = T + E
Obtained True Random
Score Score Error
– Fine for true score variance
– T = X - E
Types of Reliability
 General Guidelines for

Reliability Coefficient Value Interpretation

.90 and up Excellent

.80 - .89 Good

.70 - .79 Adequate

Below .70 May have limited applicability

 Test – retest reliability
– In test –retest reliability the single form of the
test is administered twice on the same sample
with a reasonable time gap.
Same Test
– In this way two administration of the same form
Same Sample
of the two independent sets of scores.
Different Times
– The two sets, when correlated, give the value of
the reliability coefficient.
– Measure instrument at two times for multiple
persons.
– Compute correlation between the two
measures.
 Time 1 Time 2 Time 1 Time 2

1. 4 4 11. 3 3

2. 6 6 12. 5 6

3. 8 5 13. 4 2

4. 3 5 14. 6 6

5. 1 1 15. 2 2

6. 8 8 16. 9 9

7. 6 6 17. 6 4

8. 7 6 18. 4 4

9. 4 4 19. 7 7

10. 8 9 20. 8 8
 Parallel – forms reliability
– This reliability various names such as,
– Alternative- forms reliability
– Equivalent –forms reliability
– Comparable – forms reliability
– Compares two equivalent forms of a test that measures the same
attribute.
– If the correlation between the alternative forms is low, it could indicate
that considerable measurement error is present, because two different
scales were used.
 Form A Form B
1. 80 75

2. 70 65

3. 95 90

4. 40 45

5. 30 25

6. 90 95
 Split – half reliability
– Other name Internal Consistency
reliability
– It indicates the homogeneity of the
test
– This method the test is divided into
two equal or nearly halves
– Common way of this test is the odd-
even method
– Indicates that subjects’ scores on
some trials consistently match their
scores on other trials
© Thatchinamoorthy, PhD scholar
 Kuder – Richardson Reliability and
coefficient alpha
• Fourth method on finding reliability , also utilizing a single
administration of a single form, is based on the consistency of
responses to all items in the test.
• Instead of comparing responses on two-halves of the test as in
split-half reliability, this approach examines consistency of
responding to all individual items on the test.
Kuder – Richardson Reliability
 Σ pq
r KR20
= ( k-
k
1 )( 1 –
σ 2 )
k = 10
Σ pq = 2.05
σ 2
= 5.57

• Now that we know all of the values in the

equation, we can calculate r .
KR20

r KR20
= ( )(10
10
- 1
1 –
2.05
5.57 )
r KR20
= 1.11 * 0.63

KR20
0.70
 Σ (X– X) (Y – Y)

r = √ [Σ (X –
xy X) 2
] [Σ (Y– Y) 2
]

Σ (X– X) (Y – Y) = 12.66

√ [Σ (X – X) 2
] [Σ (Y– Y) 2
] = 82.72

• Now that we have calculated the numerator

and denominator, we can calculate r xy

12.66
r =
xy 82.72

r xy = 0.15
 2rhh

r = 1+r
SB hh

2 * 0.15
rSB= 1 + 0.15
0.3
rSB= 1.15
rxy = 0.26
Pearson correlation coefficient
Cronbach alpha
 Factors influencing
Reliability of Test Scores

o Test taker’s temporary psychological or

physical state
o Environmental factors
oTest forms
o Multiple Raters