Reliability (statistics)

In statistics and psychometrics, reliability is the freedom of a measure from measurement error. In Classical Test Theory, reliability is the proportion of the observed test score variation due to "true" score variation. A measure with high reliability tends to produce similar measurements under consistent conditions:It is the characteristic of a set of test scores that relates to the amount of random error from the measurement process that might be embedded in the scores. Scores that are highly reliable are precise, reproducible, and consistent from one testing occasion to another. That is, if the testing process were repeated with a group of test takers, essentially the same results would be obtained. Various kinds of reliability coefficients, with values ranging between 0.00 (much error) and 1.00 (no error), are usually used to indicate the amount of error in the scores. For example, measurements of people's height and weight are often extremely reliable.