Question

.What is inter-rater reliability? Why is inter-rater reliability important for psychological/educational testing? What are the consequences of low inter-rater reliability?

Answer 1

• Inter-Rater Reliability refers to statistical measurements that determine how similar the data collected by different raters are. A rater is someone who is scoring or measuring a performance, behavior, or skill in a human or animal.
• Examples of raters would be a job interviewer, a psychologist measuring how many times a subject scratches their head in an experiment, and a scientist observing how many times an ape picks up a toy.
• It is important for the raters to have as close to the same observations as possible - this ensures validity in the experiment. If the raters significantly differ in their observations then either measurements or methodology are not correct and need to be refined. In some cases the raters may have been trained in different ways and need to be retrained in how to count observations so they are all doing it the same.
• The importance of rater reliability lies in the fact that it represents the extent to which the data collected in the study are correct representations of the variables measured. Measurement of the extent to which data collectors (raters) assign the same score to the same variable is called interrater reliability.
• Examiners marking school and university exams are assessed on a regular basis, to ensure that they all adhere to the same standards. This is the most important example of interobserver reliability - it would be extremely unfair to fail an exam because the observer was having a bad day.
• For most examination boards, appeals are usually rare, showing that the interrater reliability process is fairly robust.
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