Post number two 🙂
Reliability is the ability to replicate a study and get similar results. Either from a person’s responses are consistent, or the general results are consistent.
A study is considered to be reliable if it produces the same results repeatedly. Reliability is important within Psychology in order for findings to be considered accurate and valid. If a set of data gathered from a study is considered to be reliable then it is much more likely to be considered scientific, rather than be taken as just an opinion with no real evidence. Without reliability we would not be able to explain anything, or prove any theories to be either correct or incorrect.
There are different ways to test reliability such as the Test-Retest reliability, Parallel-Forms, Inter-Rater, and Internal Consistency reliability. The test-retest method is statistical method designed to test the reliability of a test. It is used for things that stay consistent over time, for example you ask the same group of people to do a test twice with a certain time gap between the two tests. Using this test reliability is likely to be higher if the time gap between the two tests isn’t too long.
Reliability helps a psychological study to turn out to be precise and is an essential part of researching.
mypsychjournal 
Oct 09, 2011 @ 00:02:48
Reliability is crucial in allowing research to be replicated by other psychologists, to show that findings are consistent. Psychologists must ensure that the data analysed with the overall conclusion of the research is valid and accurate for other psychologists to interpret. I like that you’ve referred to the ways you can measure reliability, a quality that shows psychology in a scientific light, using quantitative methods in our research. I would of used an example to support the effective of reliability in psychological research, such as in the cognitive approach, treating psychotic disorders ,Albert Ellis highlights that cognitive, emotion and behaviour are interrelated and of high importance in his client therapy. He shows their is a pattern that is consistent through clients and therefore his findings are consistent when evaluating his psychoanalysis therapy. This is an indicator of the importance reliability holds within psychological research, although where there is reliability, this doesn’t ensure that the data is too valid.
Oct 09, 2011 @ 18:20:56
i completely understand your argument that a reliable study is generally considered as a more scientific study. You stated that:
“Without reliability we would not be able to explain anything, or prove any theories to be either correct or incorrect.”
However when a theory is using subjective data or it is an assumption being made, i would argue that some theories are widely regarded as being correct due to the high internal logic behind them. For example Freudian theories such as his defense mechanisms and the Freudian Slip, these theories have not been proven as “reliable” in any way, but they still are widely accepted and used within psychology today.
The link i’ve posted below is just to back up my argument above; it is of Barack Obama who had a ‘slip’
http://articles.businessinsider.com/2011-10-06/politics/30249947_1_currency-policies-currency-markets-currency-manipulation
Oct 10, 2011 @ 13:11:37
Great little post. Do you think that reliability however, is the same as consistency? If something happens consistency does that necessarily make it reliable as you claim? Also, do you find that reliability itself is a spectrum? If a world rebound professor told you they had performed an experiment, collected data and arrived at a conclusion after 3 experiments, would that be more reliable than a psychology student who undertakes 60 experiments? I noticed also that you focused heavily on the quantity of tests etc rather than the quality. Is this something you regard less important in reliability? Considering a test to be ‘fair’ and having strict measures in place to gather accurate data is, in my opinion, incredibly important to fulfil the status of reliability.
Oct 10, 2011 @ 17:16:29
I understand that some theories are widely accepted as true, even without being proven ‘reliable’ but I was talking from a Scientific point of view. If we are to consider psychology a science, then a reliable study is generally considered to be scientific. You are completely correct in giving the example of Freud and his defence mechanisms as it is something we regard as being ‘true’.
I don’t regard the quantity of tests to be more important than the quality. If a test is of low quality and done many times, then it is going to be less reliable then a very high quality test done only a few times because the high quality test will be testing what it set out too. A fair test is also crucial, as is the need to collect accurate data.
Oct 11, 2011 @ 18:09:37
I agree with that reliability is important in psychology because you need to be able to relay on the participants that are taking part in your experiment, otherwise you may not be able to get any valid results. It would be difficult to do an experiment if you cannot relay on your participants as you need to be able to relay on them to be honest and truthful and need to relay on them to listen to your instructions so that it doesn’t effect your results. An example of this could be the conformity experiment if you had to explain it more than once to someone they may get a better understanding and they might not conform just because everyone else has.
Oct 11, 2011 @ 19:40:34
Yes, I agree reliability is particularly important when emphasising consistency within the results, as well as in an experimental procedure in order to maintain a standardized procedure to ensure that it can be easily repeated.The results need to show consistency in order to enable reliability. You clearly understand the different types of reliability and how each one differs from another.
Oct 12, 2011 @ 09:17:18
I agree with you in saying that reliability is essential in Psychology as without results from experiments being reliable, they would be invalid and as you have mentioned unscientific however in order for an experiment to be reliable, it has to be tested several times which can be very expensive and therefore it could be difficult to ensure that the results are accurate. It could also be difficult to certify that the results will be the same as or similar to the previous results found depending on the experiment. The findings should always be consistent but in some cases such as what a participant is feeling at that moment could be different on different days and dependant on what has happened to them. I think it is also important to consider that if a test is not reliable, it is impossible for the results to be valid.