Instrument Validity and Reliability in Three Health Education Journals, 1980–1987

摘要

ABSTRACT:Investigators examined how often validity and reliability measures were reported for research articles in three health education journals: Health Education, Health Education Quarterly,and theJournal of School Health.Articles published from 1980 to 1987 were considered in the analysis. Of the 611 articles published byHealth Educationduring the period used for analysis, 128 (21%) met the criteria of a research article. Reliability was reported for 22 (17%) articles, and validity was reported for 78 (61%) articles.Health Education Quarterlypublished 212 articles; 74 (35%) were research articles. Reliability was reported for 16 (21%) articles and validity was reported for 40 (54%) articles. TheJournal of School Healthpublished 778 articles, of which 243 (31%) were research articles. Reliability was reported for 62 (25%), and validity was reported for 164 (67%) of the research articles. A chi‐square test found a significant difference among the number of research articles published by the journals. Chi‐square tests also found significant differences among the journals in the proportion of research articles that reported reliability information and the proportion that reported validity. A significant trend was noted forHealth Education Quarterlyand theJournal of School Health;the proportion of research articles that reported validity and reliability increased over time for both publicati