Certified Rehabilitation Counselor Practice

What type of reliability is assessed through split half reliability?

1. Content validity

2. Internal consistency

3. Construct validity

4. Criterion validity

The correct answer is: Internal consistency

Split-half reliability specifically assesses internal consistency, which refers to how well the items within a test measure the same construct or concept. In split-half reliability, a test is divided into two halves, and the scores from each half are compared. If the two halves yield similar scores, it indicates that the test is measuring consistently across its items. This method is often used for psychological assessments and educational testing to ensure that all parts of a test contribute equally to the overall measurement of the trait being evaluated. In contrast, content validity involves the extent to which a test accurately reflects the domain it aims to measure, rather than assessing consistency. Construct validity refers to the degree to which a test measures the theoretical construct it claims to measure, and criterion validity evaluates how well one measure predicts an outcome based on another established measure. Thus, while split-half reliability is a valuable tool for determining internal consistency, it does not address aspects of validity in the same way the other options do.