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Rethinking Internal Consistency in Cronbach’s Alpha
Abstract
Cronbach's alpha estimates the internal consistency of responses in multi-item bipolar scales. This article examined three research questions (RQ): (1) To what extent do inconsistencies exist in data (e.g., responses of −2 −2 2 2)? (2) Does the number of scale items influence the amount of inconsistency? (3) Does Cronbach's alpha mask inconsistencies? Data were obtained from 29 research projects (n = 10,616). Each survey had place attachment questions comprising two concepts: place identity and place dependence. Respondents were classified as consistent or inconsistent based on their responses to the place attachment questions. Results demonstrated that: (a) inconsistent response patterns existed in the data (RQ1), (b) number of scale items influenced amount of inconsistency (RQ2), and (c) alpha masked these inconsistencies (RQ3). Discussion focused on implications of these findings.
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“Reliability analysis was performed with Cronbach’s-α to test the internal consistency of PSQ and CHIME scores as well as for corresponding scales following Vaske et al.’s [45] recommendations for interpretation.”
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Metadata
- Authors
- Vaske, J. J., Beaman, J., & Sponarski, C. C.
- Affiliations
- Colorado State University (US)
- Stanford University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Vaske, Jerry J.
- Venue
- Leisure Sciences
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2016-05-06
- Volume
- 39
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 163-173
- ISSN
- 0149-0400 (ISSN-L)
- 1521-0588
- OpenAlex
- W2345483851
- Cited by
- 856
- References
- 41
- Citations by year
- 2026: 95 · 2025: 146 · 2024: 149 · 2023: 127 · 2022: 115 · 2021: 106 · 2020: 63 · 2019: 29 · 2018: 20 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 2
- FWCI
- 19.73
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Leisure Sciences (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Management Science and Operations Research › Psychometric Methodologies and Testing
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Survey Methodology and Nonresponse
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Place Attachment and Urban Studies
- Keywords
- Cronbach's alpha, internal consistency, bipolar scales, place attachment, place identity, place dependence, scale reliability
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