fundingasg.blogg.se - Definition of reliability in research

Its degree of reliability has to do instead with the predictability of its relationship with whatever is being tested. There are four main types of reliability. If not, the method of measurement may be unreliable. When you apply the same method to the same sample under the same conditions, you should get the same results. It might always register three degrees too high, for example. Reliability tells you how consistently a method measures something.

Note, however, that the thermometer does not have to be accurate in order to be reliable. A thermometer that lacks reliability would change even when the temperature does not. If the temperature in a room stays the same, a reliable thermometer will always give the same reading. Imagine that you’re trying to assess the reliability of a thermometer in your home.

Four methods sociologists can use to assess reliability are the test-retest procedure, the alternate forms procedure, the split-halves procedure, and the internal consistency procedure. Sampling Validity (similar to content validity) ensures that the measure covers the broad range of areas within the concept under study.

Good measurement instruments should have both high reliability and high accuracy.

If a measurement instrument provides similar results each time it is used (assuming that whatever is being measured stays the same over time), it is said to have high reliability. Validity is the extent to which a concept, conclusion or measurement is well-founded and corresponds accurately to the real world.