British Journal of Psychology· 2013Q1
From alpha to omega: A practical solution to the pervasive problem of internal consistency estimation
- 3,485citations
- Q1SCImago
- 2013year
Short summary
Coefficient omega offers a more accurate and practical alternative to coefficient alpha for estimating internal consistency reliability in psychological research.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Key points
- Coefficient alpha is the most popular but flawed measure of internal consistency reliability in psychology.
- Coefficient omega is presented as a more accurate and practical psychometric alternative.
- A guide for calculating point and interval estimates of omega using free, open-source software is provided.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
Coefficient alpha is the most popular measure of reliability (and certainly of internal consistency reliability) reported in psychological research. This is noteworthy given the numerous deficiencies of coefficient alpha documented in the psychometric literature. This mismatch between theory and practice appears to arise partly because users of psychological scales are unfamiliar with the psychometric literature on coefficient alpha and partly because alternatives to alpha are not widely known. We present a brief review of the psychometric literature on coefficient alpha, followed by a practical alternative in the form of coefficient omega. To facilitate the shift from alpha to omega, we also present a brief guide to the calculation of point and interval estimates of omega using a free, open source software environment.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. British Journal of Psychology, 2013 · DOI ↗
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Field: Management Science and Operations Research
Management Science and Operations ResearchDecision Sciences