[Reliability of measurement and the methods of estimating reliability].
OBJECTIVE
To explore the methods of estimating measurement reliability and their limitations.


METHODS
According to the given examples, reliabilities of measurement were calculated and limitations of the methods of estimating reliability were analyzed.


RESULTS
The Kappa value of interobserver reliability was 0.793 between two pathologists. Between the two populations with different prevalence rates, the values of Kappa were 0.800 and 0.137 respectively, and with big difference. Cronbach's alpha coefficient of compositive index for A type behavior was 0.55.


CONCLUSIONS
The Kappa index and alpha coefficient were both inherently population-specific. Before generalizing to different populations, the reliability needs to be measured.
Zhou
Yi-biao
YB
The Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China.
Zhao
Gen-ming
GM
D000465:Algorithms; D003625:Data Collection / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015991:Epidemiologic Measurements; D015588:Observer Variation; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013997:Time Factors