The reliability of a two-item scale: Pearson, Cronbach, or Spearman-Brown? Golden trophy for IJPH paper!

We were happy to be informed that a recent IJPH paper has been identified as a “highly cited paper ” in “Essential Science Indicators” in Web of Science, which resulted in the award of a golden trophy (virtual, I presume!)

The paper is called “The reliability of a two-item scale: Pearson, Cronbach, or Spearman-Brown” and belongs to our Hints and Kinks* section. The paper aims to clear the confusion regarding which is the most appropriate reliability indicator for 2-item scales: the most frequently used Cronbach’s alpha coefficient or -as suggested by others- Pearson or Spearman-Brown?

We would like to congratulate the authors Rob Eisinga, Manfred te Grotenhuisand Ben Pelzer from Radboud University in the Netherlands!

We welcome any comments on this paper and/or your submissions to our Hints and Kinks section (see below for details)

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*Hints and Kinks are short methodological reports (1000 words max., no abstract) presenting topics relevant in survey research and surveillance. They report on experiences with techniques in a variety of areas and topics, such as writing questions, questionnaire design, survey implementation, or new and original ways to show results.