A readily applicable procedure is discussed that allows evaluation of the discrepancy between the popular coefficient alpha and the reliability coefficient of a scale with second-order factorial structure that is frequently of relevance in empirical educational and psychological research. The approach is developed within the framework of the…

Statistical mediation analysis allows researchers to identify the most important mediating constructs in the causal process studied. Identifying specific mediators is especially relevant when the hypothesized mediating construct consists of multiple related facets. The general definition of the construct and its facets might relate differently to…

Since Cronbach's (1951) elaboration of a from its introduction by Guttman (1945), this coefficient has become ubiquitous in characterizing assessment instruments in education, psychology, and other social sciences. Also ubiquitous are caveats on the calculation and interpretation of this coefficient. This article summarizes a recent contribution…

A method for examining common factor variance in multiple-component measuring instruments is outlined. The procedure is based on an application of the latent variable modeling methodology and is concerned with evaluating observed variance explained by a global factor and by one or more additional component-specific factors. The approach furnishes…

A procedure for examining essential unidimensionality in multicomponent measuring instruments is discussed. The method is based on an application of latent variable modeling and is concerned with the extent to which a common factor for all components of a given scale accounts for their correlations. The approach provides point and interval…

Statistical analyses investigating latent structure can be divided into those that estimate structural model parameters and those that detect the structural model type. The most basic distinction among structure types is between categorical (discrete) and dimensional (continuous) models. It is a common, and potentially misleading, practice to…

The maximal split-half coefficient is computed by calculating all possible split-half reliability estimates for a scale and then choosing the maximal value as the reliability estimate. Osburn compared the maximal split-half coefficient with 10 other internal consistency estimates of reliability and concluded that it yielded the most consistently…