A general framework for planning the number of items/subjects for evaluating Cronbach’s alpha: Integration of hypothesis testing and confidence intervals

Cronbach’s alpha, widely used for measuring reliability, often operates within studies with sample information, suffering insufficient sample sizes to have sufficient statistical power or precise estimation. To address this challenge and incorporate considerations of both confidence intervals and co...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inMethodology Vol. 20; no. 1; pp. 1 - 21
Main Author Luh, Wei-Ming
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published PsychOpen GOLD/ Leibniz Institute for Psychology 01.03.2024
Subjects
cost-effectiveness
event probability
interval width
power analysis
precision
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:Cronbach’s alpha, widely used for measuring reliability, often operates within studies with sample information, suffering insufficient sample sizes to have sufficient statistical power or precise estimation. To address this challenge and incorporate considerations of both confidence intervals and cost-effectiveness into statistical inferences, our study introduces a novel framework. This framework aims to determine the optimal configuration of measurements and subjects for Cronbach’s alpha by integrating hypothesis testing and confidence intervals. We have developed two R Shiny apps capable of considering up to nine probabilities, which encompass width, validity, and/or rejection events. These apps facilitate obtaining the required number of measurements/subjects, either by minimizing overall cost for a desired probability or by maximizing probability for a predefined cost.
ISSN:1614-2241
1614-2241
DOI:10.5964/meth.10449