Improving a questionnaire’s internal consistency substantially strengthens its measured correlations

Evidence

McFarland (1989b) added four items to the Quest Scale (including one contrait), increasing its alpha from . to .70, and moving the prejudice correlations from the range of —. to —.31, up to the range of —. to —.40. — Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarian Specter, 2059

Categorization

• XREF: Echoes the reliability-attenuation correction in psychometrics; connects to any methodology work on measurement error. — connects to: The indirect measurement method required a long questionnaire to yield statistical soundness — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 1579