Question

What are the types of internal consistency reliability in psychology research ?

Answer 1

The term reliability in psychological research refers to the consistency of a research study or measuring test.
For example, if a person weighs themselves during the course of a day they would expect to see a similar reading. Scales which measured weight differently each time would be of little use.
The same analogy could be applied to a tape measure which measures inches differently each time it was used. It would not be considered reliable.
If findings from research are replicated consistently they are reliable. A correlation coefficient can be used to assess the degree of reliability. If a test is reliable it should show a high positive correlation.
Of course, it is unlikely the exact same results will be obtained each time as participants and situations vary, but a strong positive correlation between the results of the same test indicates reliability.
There are two types of reliability – internal and external reliability.
Internal reliability assesses the consistency of results across items within a test. External reliability refers to the extent to which a measure varies from one use to another.