Uses and abuses of coefficient alpha
Abstract
The article addresses some concerns about how coefficient alpha is reported and used. It also shows that alpha is not a measure of homogeneity or unidimensionality. This fact and the finding that test length is related to reliability may cause significant misinterpretations of measures when alpha is used as evidence that a measure is unidimensional. For multidimensional measures, use of alpha as the basis for corrections for attenuation causes overestimates of true correlation. Satisfactory levels of alpha depend on test use and interpretation. Even relatively low (e.g., .50) levels of criterion reliability do not seriously attenuate validity coefficients. When reporting intercorrelations among measures that should be discriminable, it is important to present observed correlations, appropriate measures of reliability, and correlations corrected for unreliability. Presentation of coefficient alpha (hereinafter alpha; Cronbach, 1951 ) as an index of the internal consistency or reliability of psychological measures has become routine practice in virtually all psychological and social science research in which multiple-item measures of a construct are used. In this article I describe four ways in which researchers' use of alpha to convey information about the operationalization of a construct or constructs can represent a lack of understanding or can convey less information than is actually required to evaluate the degree to which measurement problems are or are not a concern in the interpretation of the research results. In each instance, I will also indicate which additional or supplementary information is necessary to evaluate the measurements used in the research.
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Schmitt argued that the acceptability criterion may not always be appropriate for short scales and that low alphas should not deter use when measures have other desirable properties such as meaningful content coverage.
“Schmitt noted that the acceptability criterion may not always be appropriate for short scales (such as the 2-item Brief Cope subscales) [49]. He further argued that when measures have other desirable properties, such as meaningful content coverage, low alphas should not deter their use”
From Gender Differences in Coping and Psychological Adaptation during the COVID-19 Pandemic (2023) · cites this paper as [49]
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- Authors
- Schmitt, N.
- Affiliations
- Michigan State University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Schmitt, Neal
- ORCID
- Schmitt, Neal
- Venue
- Psychological Assessment
- Published
- 1996-12
- Volume
- 8
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 350-353
- ISSN
- 1040-3590 (ISSN-L)
- 1939-134X
- OpenAlex
- W2016981279
- Cited by
- 2,588
- References
- 10
- Citations by year
- 2026: 109 · 2025: 106 · 2024: 94 · 2023: 123 · 2022: 150 · 2021: 167 · 2020: 166 · 2019: 160 · 2018: 149 · 2017: 154 · 2016: 149 · 2015: 166 · 2014: 149 · 2013: 137 · 2012: 132
- FWCI
- 11.36
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Psychological Assessment (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Management Science and Operations Research › Psychometric Methodologies and Testing
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Statistics, Probability and Uncertainty › Reliability and Agreement in Measurement
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Psychological Testing and Assessment
- Keywords
- Cronbach's alpha, internal consistency, unidimensionality, multidimensional measure, correction for attenuation, validity coefficients, test length, reliability reporting, construct operationalization
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