Is the Measure of Consistency a State of Mind?

In your unit readings from the Psychological Testing and Assessment text, you read about three sources of error variance that occur in testing and assessment. These include test construction, test administration, and test scoring and interpretation. Additionally, other sources of error may be suspect. You were also introduced to reliability coefficients, which provide information about these sources of error variance on a test (see Table 5-4).

The following reliability coefficients were obtained from studies on a new test, THING, purporting to measure a new construct (that is, Something). Alternate forms of the test were also developed and examined in subsequent studies published in the peer-reviewed journals. The alternate test forms were titled THING 1 and THING 2. (Remember to refer back to your Psychological Testing and Assessment text for information about using and interpreting a coefficient of reliability.)

• Internal consistency reliability coefficient = .92
• Alternate forms reliability coefficient = .82
• Test-retest reliability coefficient = .50

In your post:

• Describe what these scores mean.
• Interpret these results individually in terms of the information they provide on sources of error variance.
• Synthesize all of these interpretations into a final evaluation about this test’s utility or usefulness.
• Explain whether these data are acceptable.
• Explain under what conditions they may not be acceptable and under what conditions, if any, they may be appropriate.