Texas A&M University
Psychology 203
Introduction
The purpose of our study was to evaluate the reliability and validity of the Rosenber Self-Esteem scale scores. Reliability is simply whether the measurement tool you are using measures something consistently. For example does the same test show the same results when administered repeatedly. Validity is the aspect of a measuring tool that signifies its measuring what it says it does. A valid test measures what it says it’s measuring. However you can have a test that is reliable and not valid, for example if a teacher administers a spelling test that the student has to complete on the computer in a five minute time period. A student may get the same score over and over again, indicating it’s reliable, but it may not be valid because what if that student was slow at typing but knew how to spell every word. The test would not be valid because it’s not measuring just spelling as intended but also typing speed. Both reliability and validity are crucial in and study because if the research instruments are not reliable and valid, then the results of your experiment will always be in question. Method
All ninety-nine A&M students (N=99) that participated in the survey were in the same statistical writing course and were required to take the survey as part of the course curriculum. The survey consisted of 24 males and 75 females, with the average age of these participants being around 20 years old, ranging anywhere from 19 to 24 (M=20.07, SD=.997). the survey measured self-esteem by using ten items from the Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale. The students were scored by taking the mean of all their responses to the ten questions. 10 different statements that the participant rated on a scale of 1 to 7, (1 being “disagree strongly ” and 7 being “agree strongly”), the higher the score the higher the individuals self-esteem. The scale consisted of 5 revers