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MEASURING THE RELIABILITY OF OBSERVATIONAL DATA: A REACTIVE PROCESS 1
Author(s) -
Romanczyk Raymond G.,
Kent Ronald N.,
Diament Charles,
O'Leary K. Daniel
Publication year - 1973
Publication title -
journal of applied behavior analysis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.1
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1938-3703
pISSN - 0021-8855
DOI - 10.1901/jaba.1973.6-175
Subject(s) - observational study , covert , reliability (semiconductor) , psychology , reliability engineering , observational methods in psychology , inter rater reliability , statistics , developmental psychology , mathematics , engineering , rating scale , power (physics) , philosophy , linguistics , physics , quantum mechanics
Reliability of observational data was measured simultaneously by two assessors under two experimental conditions. During overt assessment, observers were told that reliability would be measured by one of the two assessors, thus permitting computation of reliability with an identified and an unidentified assessor. During covert assessment, observers were not informed of the reliability measured. Throughout the study, each of the assessors employed a unique version of a standard observational code. In the overt assessment condition, reliability of observers with the identified assessor was consistently higher than reliability with the unidentified assessor, indicating that observers modified their observational criteria to approximate those of the identified assessor. In the covert assessment condition, reliability with the two assessors was substantially lower than during overt assessment. Further, observers consistently recorded lower frequencies of disruptive behavior than the two assessors during covert assessment.