A General Approach for Estimating Scale Score Reliability for Panel Survey Data

Autor/inn/en	Biemer, Paul P.; Christ, Sharon L.; Wiesen, Christopher A.
Titel	A General Approach for Estimating Scale Score Reliability for Panel Survey Data
Quelle	In: Psychological Methods, 14 (2009) 4, S.400-412 (13 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1082-989X
DOI	10.1037/a0016618
Schlagwörter	Psychological Studies; Social Science Research; Reliability; Computation; Multivariate Analysis; Data Analysis; Measures (Individuals); Longitudinal Studies + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Social scientific research; Sozialwissenschaftliche Forschung; Reliabilität; Multivariate Analyse; Auswertung; Messdaten; Longitudinal study; Longitudinal method; Longitudinal methods; Längsschnittuntersuchung
Abstract	Scale score measures are ubiquitous in the psychological literature and can be used as both dependent and independent variables in data analysis. Poor reliability of scale score measures leads to inflated standard errors and/or biased estimates, particularly in multivariate analysis. Reliability estimation is usually an integral step to assess data quality in the analysis of scale score data. Cronbach's [alpha] is a widely used indicator of reliability but, due to its rather strong assumptions, can be a poor estimator (L. J. Cronbach, 1951). For longitudinal data, an alternative approach is the simplex method; however, it too requires assumptions that may not hold in practice. One effective approach is an alternative estimator of reliability that relaxes the assumptions of both Cronbach's [alpha] and the simplex estimator and thus generalizes both estimators. Using data from a large-scale panel survey, the benefits of the statistical properties of this estimator are investigated, and its use is illustrated and compared with the more traditional estimators of reliability. (Contains 4 footnotes, 4 tables and 4 figures.) (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	American Psychological Association. Journals Department, 750 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20002-4242. Tel: 800-374-2721; Tel: 202-336-5510; Fax: 202-336-5502; e-mail: order@apa.org; Web site: http://www.apa.org/publications
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10