Types of Reliability With Examples

There are different types of reliability measures.

Different techniques are used to estimate these metrics. The following are the main techniques for estimating dependability measures:

Any research is considered reliable to the extent that it provides accurate results across a variety of measurement. As a result, it might be described as having “repeatability or consistency.” To sum up:

Inter-rater: Different people, same test.

Test-retest: Same people, different times.

Parallel-forms: Different people, same time, different test.

Internal consistency: Different questions, same construct.

Test-retest reliability

is a metric of dependability that is acquired by giving the same test to a set of people twice over time. The test’s stability over time may then be assessed by correlating the results from Time 1 and Time 2.
For Example: A set of students may take a test intended to measure their understanding of psychology twice, with the second administration occurring perhaps a week after the first. The found correlation coefficient would suggest that the scores are consistent.

Parallel forms reliability

A measure of reliability called parallel forms reliability is derived by giving the same set of people alternative versions of an assessment instrument (both versions must have items that test the same construct, skill, knowledge base, etc.). To assess the consistency of findings across different versions, the scores from the two versions may then be connected.

Example: If you wanted to evaluate the reliability of a critical thinking assessment, you might create a large set of items that all pertain to critical thinking and then randomly split the questions up into two sets, which would represent the parallel forms.

inter-rater reliability

A reliability metric called inter-rater reliability is used to determine how closely various judges or raters agree on their assessments. Because human observers do not always perceive replies in the same manner, inter-rater reliability is important. Raters may differ on the extent to which certain responses or pieces of information reflect understanding of the construct or skill being evaluated.

Inter-rater reliability, for instance, may be used when various judges are assessing how closely art portfolios adhere to predetermined standards. When evaluations might be viewed as rather subjective, inter-rater dependability is extremely helpful. Therefore, analysing artwork rather than arithmetic problems would presumably be more likely to apply this form of dependability.

Internal consistency reliability

Internal consistency reliability is a metric of reliability used to assess how closely results from various test items that examine the same construct are related.

Internal consistency reliability is a kind of average inter-item correlation. It is calculated by calculating the correlation coefficient for each pair of items on a test that probes the same construct (such as reading comprehension), averaging all of these correlation coefficients, and then taking the result. The average inter-item correlation is obtained in the last stage.

Another internal consistency reliability subtype is split-half reliability. In order to produce two “sets” of items, all test items that are meant to probe the same body of information (such as World War II) are “divided in half” to start the process of getting split half dependability. A group of people are given the whole exam to take, the total scores for each “set” are computed, and then the split half reliability is discovered by looking at the correlation between the two total scores for each “set.”