A social worker needs to evaluate the behavior of a client who is living in a group home. The social worker asks two staff to each record the frequency of the behavior independently and to submit their tracking sheets to her without sharing them with one another. The social worker is using which of the following approaches to ensure reliability of the data collected?

There are four different ways to assess reliability or consistency. Interrater reliability uses different independent raters/observers to see if there are consistent estimates of the behavior. Alternative or parallel forms use two means of data collection constructed in the same way to see if they yield the same result. Test–retest reliability determines if assessments fluctuate from one time to another. Internal consistency looks at measurements within a test or assessment to see if they yield comparable results. Only interrater requires two or more independent staff to record the data.