What is Reliability? | #Alevel Psychology

Reliability refers to how consistent the findings are. If we were to repeat the study, would we find exactly the same or similar findings? The only way we can accurately repeat a study is if we have high levels of control or a standardised procedure, because we need to be able to repeat the study in exactly the same way. We need to manipulate the independent variable to measure the effect on the dependent variable, and therefore the most reliable method is the laboratory experiment. A field experiment does not infer high reliability because not all variables are controlled, as field experiments are the participants’ natural setting.