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Sociology vocabulary · Research Methods

Reliability

Meaning in sociology, with examples

/rɪˌlaɪəˈbɪləti/nounCore term

In sociology, reliability means: The extent to which a research method gives consistent results when it is repeated by another researcher or at another time under the same conditions.

In Turkish: güvenirlik, güvenilirlik

How it is used

Paired with validity. Structured methods such as questionnaires are usually seen as more reliable than unstructured interviews or participant observation. Researchers check reliability with tools such as test-retest and agreement between coders.

Example sentences

  1. A questionnaire with fixed answers usually has high reliability.

  2. Two researchers coded the interviews separately to check reliability.

Common collocations

  • high reliability
  • test-retest reliability
  • inter-coder reliability
  • reliability and validity
  • validityThe extent to which a research method or measure actually captures what it claims to measure and gives a true picture of the social reality being studied.
  • surveyA research method that asks a group of people the same set of questions, through a questionnaire or a structured interview, to collect comparable data.
  • semi-structured interviewAn interview based on a prepared list of topics or questions that the researcher can reorder, rephrase or follow up, so that participants can answer in their own words.
  • quantitative researchResearch that collects numerical data, usually from large samples, and uses statistics to measure patterns and test relationships between variables.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Research Methods

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