From alpha to omega: a practical solution to the pervasive problem of internal consistency estimation

Dunn, TJ, Baguley, T ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0477-2492 and Brunsden, V, 2014. From alpha to omega: a practical solution to the pervasive problem of internal consistency estimation. British Journal of Psychology. ISSN 2044-8295

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Abstract

Coefficient alpha is the most popular measure of reliability (and certainly of internal consistency reliability) reported in psychological research. This is noteworthy given the numerous deficiencies of coefficient alpha documented in the psychometric literature. This mismatch between theory and practice appears to arise partly because users of psychological scales are unfamiliar with the psychometric literature on coefficient alpha and partly because alternatives to alpha are not widely known. We present a brief review of the psychometric literature on coefficient alpha, followed by a practical alternative in the form of coefficient omega. To facilitate the shift from alpha to omega we also present a brief guide to the calculation of point and interval estimates of omega using a free, open source software environment.

Item Type: Journal article
Publication Title: British Journal of Psychology
Creators: Dunn, T.J., Baguley, T. and Brunsden, V.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 2014
ISSN: 2044-8295
Identifiers:
Number
Type
10.1111/bjop.12046
DOI
Divisions: Schools > School of Social Sciences
Record created by: EPrints Services
Date Added: 09 Oct 2015 09:55
Last Modified: 09 Jun 2017 13:14
URI: https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/4853

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