Best Alternatives to Cronbach's Alpha Reliability in Realistic Conditions: Congeneric and Asymmetrical Measurements
- PMID: 27303333
- PMCID: PMC4880791
- DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00769
Best Alternatives to Cronbach's Alpha Reliability in Realistic Conditions: Congeneric and Asymmetrical Measurements
Abstract
The Cronbach's alpha is the most widely used method for estimating internal consistency reliability. This procedure has proved very resistant to the passage of time, even if its limitations are well documented and although there are better options as omega coefficient or the different versions of glb, with obvious advantages especially for applied research in which the ítems differ in quality or have skewed distributions. In this paper, using Monte Carlo simulation, the performance of these reliability coefficients under a one-dimensional model is evaluated in terms of skewness and no tau-equivalence. The results show that omega coefficient is always better choice than alpha and in the presence of skew items is preferable to use omega and glb coefficients even in small samples.
Keywords: alpha; asymmetrical measures; greatest lower bound; omega; reliability.
Similar articles
-
Modeling Measurement Errors of the Exogenous Composites From Congeneric Measures in Interaction Models.Struct Equ Modeling. 2021;28(2):250-260. doi: 10.1080/10705511.2020.1782206. Epub 2020 Jul 30. Struct Equ Modeling. 2021. PMID: 34239281 Free PMC article.
-
A Comparison of Composite Reliability Estimators: Coefficient Omega Confidence Intervals in the Current Literature.Educ Psychol Meas. 2016 Jun;76(3):436-453. doi: 10.1177/0013164415593776. Epub 2015 Jul 8. Educ Psychol Meas. 2016. PMID: 29795872 Free PMC article.
-
A Simulation Study on the Performance of Different Reliability Estimation Methods.Educ Psychol Meas. 2021 Dec;81(6):1089-1117. doi: 10.1177/0013164421994184. Epub 2021 Feb 15. Educ Psychol Meas. 2021. PMID: 34565817 Free PMC article.
-
Scale Reliability, Cronbach's Coefficient Alpha, and Violations of Essential Tau-Equivalence with Fixed Congeneric Components.Multivariate Behav Res. 1997 Oct 1;32(4):329-53. doi: 10.1207/s15327906mbr3204_2. Multivariate Behav Res. 1997. PMID: 26777071
-
Coefficient Alpha: The Resistance of a Classic.Psicothema. 2023 Feb;35(1):5-20. doi: 10.7334/psicothema2022.321. Psicothema. 2023. PMID: 36695846 Review.
Cited by
-
Psychometrics of patient-reported outcomes measurement information system in von Willebrand disease, inherited platelet function disorders, and rare bleeding disorders.Res Pract Thromb Haemost. 2024 Jun 13;8(4):102474. doi: 10.1016/j.rpth.2024.102474. eCollection 2024 May. Res Pract Thromb Haemost. 2024. PMID: 39076727 Free PMC article.
-
The biobehavioural pain and movement questionnaire (BioPMovQ): development and psychometric validation of a new questionnaire.Front Med (Lausanne). 2024 May 9;11:1358829. doi: 10.3389/fmed.2024.1358829. eCollection 2024. Front Med (Lausanne). 2024. PMID: 38784228 Free PMC article.
-
Validation and optimal cut-off score of the World Health Organization Well-being Index (WHO-5) as a screening tool for depression among patients with schizophrenia.BMC Psychiatry. 2024 May 23;24(1):391. doi: 10.1186/s12888-024-05814-z. BMC Psychiatry. 2024. PMID: 38783217 Free PMC article.
-
A comparison of univariate and meta-analytic structural equation modeling approaches to reliability generalization applied to the Maslach Burnout Inventory.Front Psychol. 2024 May 3;15:1383619. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1383619. eCollection 2024. Front Psychol. 2024. PMID: 38778881 Free PMC article.
-
Development and psychometric properties of a self-medication behavior inventory.Front Psychol. 2024 May 6;15:1366284. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1366284. eCollection 2024. Front Psychol. 2024. PMID: 38770255 Free PMC article.
References
-
- Al-Homidan S. (2008). Semidefinite programming for the educational testing problem. Cent. Eur. J. Oper. Res. 16, 239–249. 10.1007/s10100-008-0056-0 - DOI
-
- Bernaards C., Jennrich R. (2015). Package “GPArotation.” Available online at: http://ftp.daum.net/CRAN/web/packages/GPArotation/GPArotation.pdf
-
- Cho E., Kim S. (2015). Cronbach's coefficient alpha: well known but poorly understood. Organ. Res. Methods 18, 207–230. 10.1177/1094428114555994 - DOI
-
- Cortina J. (1993). What is coefficient alpha? An examination of theory and applications. J. Appl. Psychol. 78, 98–104. 10.1037/0021-9010.78.1.98 - DOI
-
- Cronbach L. (1951). Coefficient alpha and the internal structure of tests. Psychometrika 16, 297–334. 10.1007/BF02310555 - DOI
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources
Other Literature Sources