Rethinking Internal Consistency in Cronbach's Alpha

Cronbach's alpha estimates the internal consistency of responses in multi-item bipolar scales. This article examined three research questions (RQ): (1) To what extent do inconsistencies exist in data (e.g., responses of −2 −2 2 2)? (2) Does the number of scale items influence the amount of inconsistency? (3) Does Cronbach's alpha mask inconsistencies? Data were obtained from 29 research projects (n = 10,616). Each survey had place attachment questions comprising two concepts: place identity and place dependence. Respondents were classified as consistent or inconsistent based on their responses to the place attachment questions. Results demonstrated that: (a) inconsistent response patterns existed in the data…