Validity coefficients with external criteria provide a lower bound for a test's reliability¶
Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · theoreticalr3·q2
Currency · newest study 2025 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person
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.
q2 i? Because a strong correlation with external criteria implies low random measurement error, reliability cannot be lower than validity, so validity indices can estimate a lower bound for reliability. → Peter A. Edelsbrunner 2025
Evidence¶
Peter A. Edelsbrunner 2025¶
Peter A. Edelsbrunner, Bianca A. Simonsmeier, Michael Schneider. (2025). The Reliability, But Not the Cronbach's Alpha, of Knowledge Tests Matters: Response to Zitzmann and Orona (2025). Educational Psychology Review. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-025-10023-5
q2 · i? · theoretical · r3
The commentary proposes, citing Anastasi and Urbina (1997), that researchers can use a test's correlations with external criteria to estimate a lower bound for reliability, since "the reliability cannot be lower than the validity."
"The reliability cannot be lower than the validity (Anastasi & Urbina, 1997)."
Discussion¶
Related Claims¶
- A low alpha does not necessarily indicate high content validity, because reliability and validity can both be high — related
- Retest reliability may be more appropriate than alpha for knowledge tests, but requires a testing interval without learning — related
- A free-reproduction comprehension test (Brown) is not a valid measure of comprehension — related
Page metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
type |
claim |
id |
validity-lower-bound-reliability |
title |
Validity coefficients with external criteria provide a lower bound for a test's reliability |
description |
Validity coefficients with external criteria provide a lower bound for a test's reliability |
status |
review |
evidence_strength |
weak |
newest_evidence |
2025 |
generated |
by process:wiki-ingest on 2026-10-22 |
trust |
unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content |
sources |
1 — peter-a-edelsbrunner-2025 |
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