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Measuring Intra-Individual Variability Within One Testing

Author(s):
Hills, John R.; Raine, Walter J.
Publication Year:
1957
Report Number:
RB-57-10
Source:
ETS Research Bulletin
Document Type:
Report
Page Count:
9
Subject/Key Words:
Intra-Individual Variability, Response Style (Tests), Sentence Completion Tests, Test Reliability

Abstract

This study attempts to answer two questions: (1) When people take the same Sentence Completion test twice within a few hours will they display individual differences in intra-individual response variability? (2) If individual differences in this characteristic appear, will they be related to variance in intra-individual response variability as measured by comparing a person's responses to homogeneous items presented within a single test? It was found that intra-individual response variability does appear with this short period between the two administrations of the test. Further, the score based on similar responses to homogeneous items within the first administration correlated .61 with the score based on similar responses to identical items answered in two administrations separated by a several hour period. Corrected for attenuation in both scores the correlation is .90. These findings should facilitate and encourage study of the ramifications of the concept of intra-individual response variability.

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