Departmental Papers (ASC)
Document Type
Journal Article
Date of this Version
2011
Abstract
Coefficients that assess the reliability of data making processes – coding text, transcribing interviews, or categorizing observations into analyzable terms – are mostly conceptualized in terms of the agreement a set of coders, observers, judges, or measuring instruments exhibit. When variation is low, reliability coefficients reveal their dependency on an often neglected phenomenon, the amount of information that reliability data provide about the reliability of the coding process or the data it generates. This paper explores the concept of reliability, simple agreement, four conceptions of chance to correct that agreement, sources of information deficiency, and develops two measures of information about reliability, akin to the power of a statistical test, intended as a companion to traditional reliability coefficients, especially Krippendorff‟s (2004, pp. 221-250; Hayes & Krippendorff, 2007) alpha.
Date Posted: 19 July 2011
This document has been peer reviewed.
Comments
This is a preprint of an article submitted for consideration in Communication Methods and Measures 2011 © Taylor & Francis; Communication Methods and Measures is available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19312458.2011.568376