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Neither Cronbach’s Alpha nor McDonald’s Omega: A Commentary on Sijtsma and Pfadt

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  • Eunseong Cho

    (Kwangwoon University)

Abstract

Sijtsma and Pfadt (2021) published a thought-provoking article on coefficient alpha. I make the following arguments against their work. 1) Kuder and Richardson (1937) deserve more credit for coefficient alpha than Cronbach (1951). 2) We should distinguish between the definition of reliability and its meaning. 3) We should be wary of overfitting in the use of FA reliability. 4) Our primary concern is to obtain accurate reliability estimates rather than conservative estimates. 5) Several reliability estimators, such as $$\lambda _{2}$$ λ 2 , $$\mu _{2}$$ μ 2 , congeneric reliability and the Gilmer-Feldt coefficient are more accurate than coefficient alpha. 6) The name omega should not be used to refer to a specific reliability estimator.

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  • Eunseong Cho, 2021. "Neither Cronbach’s Alpha nor McDonald’s Omega: A Commentary on Sijtsma and Pfadt," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 86(4), pages 877-886, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:psycho:v:86:y:2021:i:4:d:10.1007_s11336-021-09801-1
    DOI: 10.1007/s11336-021-09801-1
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Klaas Sijtsma & Julius M. Pfadt, 2021. "Part II: On the Use, the Misuse, and the Very Limited Usefulness of Cronbach’s Alpha: Discussing Lower Bounds and Correlated Errors," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 86(4), pages 843-860, December.
    2. Lee Cronbach, 1951. "Coefficient alpha and the internal structure of tests," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 16(3), pages 297-334, September.
    3. Cyril Hoyt, 1941. "Test reliability estimated by analysis of variance," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 6(3), pages 153-160, June.
    4. Henry Kaiser & John Caffrey, 1965. "Alpha factor analysis," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 30(1), pages 1-14, March.
    5. P. Bentler, 1968. "Alpha-maximized factor analysis (alphamax): Its relation to alpha and canonical factor analysis," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 33(3), pages 335-345, September.
    6. Louis Guttman, 1945. "A basis for analyzing test-retest reliability," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 10(4), pages 255-282, December.
    7. G. Kuder & M. Richardson, 1937. "The theory of the estimation of test reliability," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 2(3), pages 151-160, September.
    8. Brian Woodhouse & Paul Jackson, 1977. "Lower bounds for the reliability of the total score on a test composed of non-homogeneous items: II: A search procedure to locate the greatest lower bound," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 42(4), pages 579-591, December.
    9. Walter Kristof, 1971. "On the theory of a set of tests which differ only in length," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 36(3), pages 207-225, September.
    10. Klaas Sijtsma, 2009. "On the Use, the Misuse, and the Very Limited Usefulness of Cronbach’s Alpha," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 74(1), pages 107-120, March.
    11. Jerry Gilmer & Leonard Feldt, 1983. "Reliability estimation for a test with parts of unknown lengths," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 48(1), pages 99-111, March.
    12. Paul Jackson & Christian Agunwamba, 1977. "Lower bounds for the reliability of the total score on a test composed of non-homogeneous items: I: Algebraic lower bounds," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 42(4), pages 567-578, December.
    13. J. Berge & Frits Zegers, 1978. "A series of lower bounds to the reliability of a test," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 43(4), pages 575-579, December.
    14. Tyler Hunt & Peter Bentler, 2015. "Quantile Lower Bounds to Reliability Based on Locally Optimal Splits," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 80(1), pages 182-195, March.
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    3. Melissa Kadi & Stéphanie Bourion-Bédès & Michael Bisch & Cédric Baumann, 2023. "A Structural Validation of the Brief COPE Scale among Outpatients with Alcohol and Opioid Use Disorders," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-13, February.

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