Contextualizing the Interpretation of Reliability Data

What is the relationship between the context and substantive meaning of a measure and the assessment of the reliability of the measure? Does the interpretation of a reliability coefficient depend on the nature of the measure? How does this approach to reliability relate to alternative assessments?     

Gender differences in coaching philosophy: the case of female basketball teams

With the advent of Title IX, the proportion of female participants in interscholastic sport has risen sharply while the proportion of female coaches has dropped precipitously. This paper seeks to determine whether there are any differences in coaching philosophy by gender. Questionnaires were sent to the coaches of 600 high school girls' basketball teams selected randomly from the 48 contiguous states. There were 250 usable ones returned for a response rate of 42%. The questionnaires included items designed to assess the attitudes and behaviors of coaches in five areas of coaching philosophy: (1) the coach's role in the overall development of athletes; (2) conditions believed essential to maximize team performance; (3) team rules used; (4) use of sports aphorisms; and (5) expectations of athletes. Summing the findings, we found that in 83 of the 100 comparisons there were no statistical differences in the means of the male and female coaches. In the 17 instances where there were statistically significant differences, 14 times the female coaches were on the more traditional side. Several possible explanations for this interesting finding are discussed.     

Cultural differences in the perception of critical interaction behaviors in global virtual teams

We investigated whether members of virtual teams from the U.S., India, and Belgium perceived the same interaction behaviors to be critical for team functioning as Dutch members from an earlier study. Thirteen virtual team workers from the U.S., 11 from India, and 11 from Belgium were interviewed by means of the Critical Incident Technique Flanagan [Flanagan, J. C. (1954). The critical incident technique. Psychological Bulletin, 51, 327–358]. The total number of critical incidents from all countries was 493 and most incidents could be grouped into the same 13 categories as those found in the original Dutch study. However, the results showed that the distributions of the critical incidents from the American, Indian, and Belgian respondents differed from those of the Dutch. Indian and Belgian respondents also mentioned a new category of critical incidents: Respectfulness. The cultural differences were interpreted by means of Hofstede's [Hofstede, G. (2001). Cultures consequences: comparing values, behaviors, institutions, and organizations across nations (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, California, U.S.: SAGE Publications] dimensions.