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Statistical Guides

How Is Cronbach’s Alpha Interpreted?

Alpha measures internal consistency, not validity. A high alpha does not mean the scale measures the right thing.

Alpha rises with the number of items. A twenty-item scale can reach a comfortable alpha while measuring two different things at once.

A very high alpha (above about 0.95) often signals redundancy — several items asking the same question in different words.

Alpha says nothing about whether the construct is the one you intended. That question belongs to validity analysis, not reliability.

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