Question

A middle school counselor is selecting a standardized test to be used in making decisions for the school's social science curriculum. The counselor is comparing the ABC Social Sciences Test with the XYZ Social Studies Achievement Test. The ABC test manual reports an internal consistency coefficient of .37, while the XYZ manual reports an internal consistency coefficient of .82.

Which test should the counselor select and why?

A. The ABC Social Sciences Test because its social sciences content is more applicable to the school's curriculum than that of the XYZ Social Studies Achievement Test
B. The ABC Social Sciences Test because the lower internal consistency coefficient indicates that it is more stable than the XYZ Social Studies Achievement Test
C. The XYZ Social Studies Achievement Test because its internal consistency coefficient of .82 is substantially higher than that of the ABC Social Sciences Test
D. The XYZ Social Studies Achievement Test because for the purposes described, internal consistency is irrelevant

Answer 1

The counselor should choose the XYZ Social Studies Achievement Test due to its higher internal consistency coefficient of .82, indicating higher reliability compared to the ABC Social Sciences Test which has a coefficient of .37.

Step-by-step explanation:

The middle school counselor comparing the ABC Social Sciences Test and the XYZ Social Studies Achievement Test should select the XYZ test for evaluating the school's social science curriculum. The primary reason for this choice is the internal consistency coefficient, which measures how reliably a test assesses the construct it is intended to measure. A higher coefficient suggests that the test is more consistent in its measurement. Given that the XYZ test has an internal consistency coefficient of .82 compared to ABC's .37, it indicates that the XYZ test is substantially more reliable in its assessment, making it the better choice for curriculum decisions.