Reliability
MCAT glossary · Psychological, Social & Biological Foundations of Behavior
Definition
The consistency of a measurement across repetitions.
Reliability in plain English
Reliability is about consistency — does a measurement give you the same answer when you repeat it? Think of a bathroom scale: if you step on it three times in a row and it reads 130, 130, 130, it's reliable; if it says 130, then 118, then 141, you can't trust it. Note this is separate from accuracy — a scale stuck 5 pounds too high is perfectly reliable (consistent) but still wrong, so a good test needs both.
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