title: Test-retest reliability of alcohol measures: is there a difference between internet-based assessment and traditional methods?
abstract: This study compared Web-based assessment techniques with traditional paper-based methods of commonly used measures of alcohol use. Test-retest reliabilities were obtained, and tests of validity were conducted. A total of 255 participants were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 conditions: paper-based (P&P), Web-based (Web), or Web-based with interruption (Web-I). Follow-up assessments 1 week later indicated reliabilities ranging from .59 to .93 within all measures and across all assessment methods. Significantly high test-retest reliability coefficients support the use of these measures for research and clinical applications. Furthermore, no significant differences were found between assessment techniques, suggesting that Web-based methods are a suitable alternative to more traditional methods. This cost-efficient alternative has the advantage of minimizing data collection and entry errors while increasing survey accessibility.
authors.affiliation: Addictive Behaviors Research Center, Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, USA. lizza@datstat.com
authors.forename: Elizabeth T
authors.initials: ET
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.forename: Dan J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Neal
authors.forename: Lisa J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Roberts
authors.forename: John S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Baer
authors.forename: Sally O
authors.initials: SO
authors.lastname: Cressler
authors.forename: Jane
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Metrik
authors.forename: G Alan
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Marlatt
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000517:prevention & control*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods*; D011581:Psychological Tests; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D014481:United States