Research Methods Mark Scheme Answers 2024/2025 Verified

What is meant by 'reliability'? Explain how the psychologist might assess the reliability of her questionnaire. (4) - Generic definitions of reliability, eg linking reliability to consistency of findings, data, or participant responses, sufficient for 1 mark. Reliability may also be defined in terms of types of reliability eg internal or external. Merely naming internal/external reliability is not creditworthy. Internal reliability means that the items making up the questionnaire are assessing the same characteristic; external reliability means that the same person taking the questionnaire at two different times produces the same score. Split-half (Internal reliability): scores on half the items (1 mark), are correlated with scores on the other half (1 mark) and the higher the correlation the more reliable the questionnaire (1 mark). • Test-retest (External reliability): the questionnaire is given to the same participants again (1 mark). The scores on the two tests are correlated (1 mark) and the higher the correlation the more reliable the questionnaire (1 mark).