Blackwell Reference Online

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A test, a data-coding system, or an attitude measurement ( inter alia ) can be called ‘reliable’ if it can be trusted to ‘work’ (e.g. give similar outcomes) under varying conditions (with different administrators, for example). ‘Reliability’ is often linked to, and confused with, ‘ validity ’. A clock may be highly reliable, in that it can be trusted to gain three minutes every day, but necessarily the time it ‘tells’ will be incorrect, not ‘valid’. ( 1988 ). Understanding Research in Second Language Learning . Cambridge : Cambridge University Press . ( 1992 ). Research Methods in Language Learning . Cambridge : Cambridge University Press . ... log in or subscribe to read full text