Using and Interpreting Cronbachs Alpha

I. What is Cronbachs alpha?

Cronbachs alpha is a measure used to assess the reliability, or internal consistency, of a
set of scale or test items. In other words, the reliability of any given measurement refers to
the extent to which it is a consistent measure of a concept, and Cronbachs alpha is one
way of measuring the strength of that consistency.

Cronbachs alpha is computed by correlating the score for each scale item with the total
score for each observation (usually individual survey respondents or test takers), and then
comparing that to the variance for all individual item scores:

=(kk1)(1ki=12yi2x)=(kk1)(1i=1kyi2x2)

where: kk refers to the number of scale items

2yiyi2 refers to the variance associated with item i

2xx2 refers to the variance associated with the observed total scores

Alternatively, Cronbachs alpha can also be defined as:

=kcv+(k1)c=kcv+(k1)c

where: kk refers to the number of scale items

cc refers to the average of all covariances between items

vv refers to the average variance of each item

Cronbachs alpha is thus a function of the number of items in a test, the average covariance
between pairs of items, and the variance of the total score.

II. How do I interpret Cronbachs alpha?

The resulting coefficient of reliability ranges from 0 to 1 in providing this overall
assessment of a measures reliability. If all of the scale items are entirely independent from
one another (i.e., are not correlated or share no covariance), then = 0; and, if all of the
items have high covariances, then will approach 1 as the number of items in the scale
approaches infinity. In other words, the higher the coefficient, the more the items have
shared covariance and probably measure the same underlying concept.
Although the standards for what makes a good coefficient are entirely arbitrary and
depend on your theoretical knowledge of the scale in question, many methodologists
 recommend a minimum coefficient between 0.65 and 0.8 (or higher in many
cases); coefficients that are less than 0.5 are usually unacceptable, especially for scales
purporting to be unidimensional (but see Section III for more on dimensionality).
For example, lets consider the six scale items from the American National Election Study
(ANES) that purport to measure equalitarianismor an individuals predisposition toward
egalitarianismall of which were measured using a five-point scale ranging from agree
strongly to disagree strongly:

Our society should do whatever is necessary to make sure that everyone has an equal
opportunity to succeed.
We have gone too far in pushing equal rights in this country. (reverse worded)
One of the big problems in this country is that we dont give everyone an equal chance.
This country would be better off if we worried less about how equal people are. (reverse
worded)
It is not really that big a problem if some people have more of a chance in life than others.
(reverse worded)
If people were treated more equally in this country we would have many fewer problems.

After accounting for the reversely-worded items, this scale has a reasonably
strong coefficient of 0.67 based on responses during the 2008 wave of the ANES data
collection. In part because of this coefficient, and in part because these items exhibit
strong face validity and construct validity (see Section III), I feel comfortable saying that
these items do indeed tap into an underlying construct of egalitarianism among
respondents.
In interpreting a scales coefficient, remember that a high is both a function of the
covariances among items and the number of items in the analysis, so a high coefficient
isnt in and of itself the mark of a good or reliable set of items; you can often increase
the coefficient simply by increasing the number of items in the analysis. In fact, because
highly correlated items will also produce a high coefficient, if its very high (i.e., > 0.95),
you may be risking redundancy in your scale items.
III. What ISNT Cronbachs alpha?
Cronbachs alpha is not a measure of dimensionality, nor a test of unidimensionality. In fact,
its possible to produce a high coefficient for scales of similar length and variance, even
if there are multiple underlying dimensions. To check for dimensionality, youll perhaps want
to conduct an exploratory factor analysis.
Cronbachs alpha is also not a measure of validity, or the extent to which a scale records
the true value or score of the concept youre trying to measure without capturing any
unintended characteristics. For example, word problems in an algebra class may indeed
capture a students math ability, but they may also capture verbal abilities or even test
anxiety, which, when factored into a test score, may not provide the best measure of her
true math ability.

A reliable measure is one that contains zero or very little random measurement errori.e.,
anything that might introduce arbitrary or haphazard distortion into the measurement
process, resulting in inconsistent measurements. However, it need not be free of systematic
erroranything that might introduce consistent and chronic distortion in measuring the
underlying concept of interestin order to be reliable; it only needs to be consistent. For
example, if we try to measure egalitarianism through a precise recording of a(n adult)
persons height, the measure may be highly reliable, but also wildly invalid as a measure of
the underlying concept.

In short, youll need more than a simple test of reliability to fully assess how good a scale
is at measuring a concept. You will want to assess the scales face validity by using your
theoretical and substantive knowledge and asking whether or not there are good reasons to
think that a particular measure is or is not an accurate gauge of the intended underlying
concept. And, in addition, you can address construct validity by examining whether or not
there exist empirical relationships between your measure of the underlying concept of
interest and other concepts to which it should be theoretically related.

IV. How can I compute Cronbachs alpha?

In the event that you do not want to calculate by hand (!), it is thankfully very easy using
statistical software. Lets assume that the six scale items in question are named Q1, Q2,
Q3, Q4, Q5, and Q6, and see below for examples in SPSS, Stata, and R.
In SPSS:
RELIABILITY
/VARIABLES=Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 Q6
/SCALE('ALL VARIABLES') ALL
/MODEL=ALPHA.

Note that in specifying /MODEL=ALPHA, were specifically requesting the Cronbachs alpha
coefficient, but there are other options for assessing reliability, including split-half, Guttman,
and parallel analyses, among others.
The above syntax will produce only some very basic summary output; in addition to
the coefficient, SPSS will also provide the number of valid observations used in the
analysis and the number of scale items you specified. You may, however, want some more
detailed information about the items and the overall scale. Consider the following syntax:
RELIABILITY
/VARIABLES=Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 Q6
/SCALE('ALL VARIABLES') ALL
 /MODEL=ALPHA
/STATISTICS=DESCRIPTIVE SCALE CORR COV
/SUMMARY=MEANS VARIANCE COV CORR.

With the /SUMMARY line, you can specify which descriptive statistics you want for all items
in the aggregate; this will produce the Summary Item Statistics table, which provide the
overall item means and variances in addition to the inter-item covariances and correlations.
The /STATISTICS line provides several additional options as
well: DESCRIPTIVE produces statistics for each item (in contrast to the overall statistics
captured through /SUMMARY described above), SCALE produces statistics related to the
scale resulting from combining all of the individual items, CORR produces the full inter-item
correlation matrix, and COVproduces the full inter-item covariance matrix.
In Stata:
alpha Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 Q6

The above syntax will provide the average inter-item covariance, the number of items in the
scale, and the coefficient; however, as with the SPSS syntax above, if we want some
more detailed information about the items and the overall scale, we can request this by
adding options to the above command (in Stata, anything that follows the first comma is
considered an option). For example:
alpha Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 Q6, asis std item detail gen(SCALE)

The asis option takes the sign of each item as it is; if you have reversely-worded items in
your scale, whether or not you want to use this option depends on if youve already
reversed scored those items in the Q1-Q6 variables as entered. Alternatively, you might
want to use the option reverse(ITEMS) to reverse the signs of any items/variables you
list in between the parentheses.
The std option standardizes items in the scale to have a mean of 0 and a variance of 1
(again, whether or not you use this option might depend on whether or not youve already
standardized the variables Q1-Q6), the detail option will list individual inter-item
correlations and covariances, and gen(SCALE) will use these six items to generate a scale
and save it into a new variable called SCALE (or whatever else you specify in between the
parentheses).
Finally, the item option will produce a table displaying the number of non-missing
observations for each item, the correlation of each item with the summed index (item-test
correlations), the correlation of each item with the summed index with that item excluded
(item-rest correlations), the covariance between items and the summed index, and what
the coefficient for the scale would be were each item to be excluded. Type help
alpha in Statas command line for more options.
In R:
There are many ways of calculating Cronbachs alpha in R using a variety of different
packages. One option utilizes the psy package, which, if not already on your computer, can
be installed by issuing the following command:

install.packages("psy")

You then invoke this package by specifying:

library(psy)

The variables Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4, Q5, and Q6 should be defined as a matrix or data frame
called X (or any name you decide to give it); then issue the following command:

cronbach(X)

This will output the number of observations, the number of items in your scale, and the
resulting coefficient. Additional documentation for the psy package can be found here.
Alternatively, the psych package offers a way of calculating Cronbachs alpha with a wider
variety of arguments; see further documentation and examples here, here, and here.
V. Can I compute Cronbachs alpha with binary variables?
Yes! If all of the scale items you want to analyze are binary and you compute Cronbachs
alpha, youre actually running an analysis called the Kuder-Richardson 20. The formula for
Cronbachs alpha builds on the KR-20 formula to make it suitable for items with scaled
responses (e.g., Likert scaled items) and continuous variables, so the underlying math is, if
anything, simpler for items with dichotomous response options. After running this test, youll
get the same coefficient and other similar output, and you can interpret this output in the
same ways described above.
Chelsea Goforth
Statistical Consulting Associate
University of Virginia Library
November 16, 2015
For questions or clarifications regarding this article, contact the UVa Library
StatLab: statlab@virginia.edu

http://data.library.virginia.edu/using-and-interpreting-cronbachs-alpha/