Alpha is negatively related to sample mean age, and knowledge type shows no effect after controlling for test length¶
Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · quant-synthesisr2·q3
Currency · newest study 2025 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person · recheck by 2028: tool and model accuracy changes quickly
Subclaims¶
Reading the evidence codes
q is the design tier, i the impact, n the sample, and the kind with its r
the rigour judged within that kind: what each code means.
This claim: no standardized effect is recorded in observations/ for it yet, so no benchmark reading is possible.
q3 i? Alpha is negatively related to sample mean age (p = .015), against the hypothesis of no relation. → Peter A. Edelsbrunner 2025
q3 i? Knowledge type (conceptual, fact, procedural, mixed) shows no significant effect on Alpha after controlling for test length. → Peter A. Edelsbrunner 2025 (2)
Evidence¶
Peter A. Edelsbrunner 2025¶
Peter A. Edelsbrunner, Bianca A. Simonsmeier, Michael Schneider. (2025). The Cronbach’s Alpha of Domain‑Specific Knowledge Tests Before and After Learning: A Meta‑Analysis of Published Studies. Educational Psychology Review. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-024-09982-y
q3 · i? · quant-synthesis · r2
Meta-regression from Table 2 controlling for log-centered test length. Participant age was significantly related to Alpha (p = .015). Table 1 summarizes: "Negative relation with age." No effect size is printed for this relation.
"Participant age 42 255 NA NA .015 0.57 98.66"
Peter A. Edelsbrunner 2025 (2)¶
Peter A. Edelsbrunner, Bianca A. Simonsmeier, Michael Schneider. (2025). The Cronbach’s Alpha of Domain‑Specific Knowledge Tests Before and After Learning: A Meta‑Analysis of Published Studies. Educational Psychology Review. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-024-09982-y
q3 · i? · quant-synthesis · r2
Meta-regression from Table 2 controlling for log-centered test length. Conceptual knowledge (.83) did not differ significantly from fact knowledge (.86, p = .278) or procedural knowledge (.84, p = .668). Table 1: "No effect after control for test length."
"Conceptual knowledge 42 201 .83 [.80, .86] [.40; .95] ref 0.52 97.79 Fact knowledge 16 44 .86 [.82, .89] [.50; .96] .278 1.10 99.38"
Discussion¶
Related Claims¶
- Alpha of knowledge tests is substantially related to the number of items in the test — related
- Alpha of knowledge tests is higher for language and mathematics than for science and social sciences/humanities — related
- Cronbach's Alphas of knowledge tests vary widely, with a 90% prediction interval of (0.35, 0.96) — related
- Meta-analytic average Cronbach's Alpha of domain-specific knowledge tests is 0.85 with expected item intercorrelation of 0.22 — related
- Alpha of knowledge tests increases after interventions from pretest to posttest — related
- Open response format is associated with higher Alpha than multiple choice in knowledge tests — related
Page metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
type |
claim |
id |
knowledge-test-alpha-age-and-type |
title |
Alpha is negatively related to sample mean age, and knowledge type shows no effect after controlling for test length |
description |
Alpha is negatively related to sample mean age, and knowledge type shows no effect after controlling for test length |
status |
review |
evidence_strength |
weak |
newest_evidence |
2025 |
recheck_by |
2028 |
generated |
by process:wiki-ingest on 2026-10-19 |
trust |
unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content |
sources |
2 — peter-a-edelsbrunner-2025, peter-a-edelsbrunner-2025-2 |
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