UGC NET Questions (Paper – 1)

Inter-coder reliability assesses the extent to which independent coders agree on how to classify units of content into categories. High agreement suggests that the coding scheme is clear and that results are not heavily dependent on a single coder’s subjective judgment. It is crucial for ensuring the credibility of content analysis findings. Thus, agreement among coders is referred to as inter-coder reliability.

Option A:
Test–retest reliability examines the stability of scores over time by administering the same instrument twice to the same respondents. It does not assess agreement between different coders at one point in time. Therefore, it is not the correct term here.

Option B:
Option B, inter-coder reliability, focuses specifically on consistency across observers or coders who apply the same coding rules. It is often quantified using statistics such as Cohen’s kappa. Because the stem mentions different coders assigning the same categories, this option is correct.

Option C:
Internal reliability, often assessed by Cronbach’s alpha, looks at consistency among items within a scale. It concerns item intercorrelations rather than coder agreement, so it does not fit the description.

Option D:
Split-half reliability evaluates the consistency of scores on two halves of a test or instrument. It is another form of internal consistency but not a measure of agreement among coders. Hence, it is not appropriate here.