ERIC Number: EJ982331
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2012-Oct
Pages: 27
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0013-1644
EISSN: N/A
The Assessment of Reliability Under Range Restriction: A Comparison of [Alpha], [Omega], and Test-Retest Reliability for Dichotomous Data
Fife, Dustin A.; Mendoza, Jorge L.; Terry, Robert
Educational and Psychological Measurement, v72 n5 p862-888 Oct 2012
Though much research and attention has been directed at assessing the correlation coefficient under range restriction, the assessment of reliability under range restriction has been largely ignored. This article uses item response theory to simulate dichotomous item-level data to assess the robustness of KR-20 ([alpha]), [omega], and test-retest under varying selection ratios. These estimators, both corrected and uncorrected for range restriction, were compared in terms of both bias and precision. Test-retest reliability was usually the best estimator of reliability across a variety of conditions. Only under indirect range restriction did KR-20 and [omega] performed well. All estimators suffered imprecision as a function of range restriction, above and beyond the reduction in sample size. Based on the results, a set of recommendations are proposed. (Contains 7 tables and 6 figures.)
Descriptors: Reliability, Computation, Comparative Analysis, Item Response Theory, Correlation, Robustness (Statistics), Statistical Bias, Sample Size, Error of Measurement
SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: http://sagepub.com
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A

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