Scale reliability checker
Open Scale reliability checker on Happytails.ai. This view has the same page content and links, with explicit tool capabilities. Read the processing notes before using a tool.
Tool capabilities
{
"id": "scale-reliability-checker",
"category": "calculators",
"built": true,
"requirements": "Runs locally in your browser; nothing is uploaded. Paste up to 1,000,000 characters of CSV with at most 100 columns in total (including any ID column), 2 to 100 item columns, 3 to 10,000 respondents and at most 50,000 item scores in total. Blank lines at the end are ignored. Scores are plain numbers inside the declared minimum and maximum. Downloads: a JSON report plus CSV item statistics and an inter-item correlation matrix.",
"implementation": {
"fields": [
{
"key": "itemColumns",
"label": "Item columns (optional)",
"value": "",
"type": "text",
"maxLength": 20000,
"help": "Comma-separated exact headers. Leave blank to use every column. The CSV may have at most 100 columns in total."
},
{
"key": "reverseItems",
"label": "Reverse-coded items (optional)",
"value": "",
"type": "text",
"maxLength": 20000,
"help": "Comma-separated exact headers of negatively worded items, for example q4. Leave blank when no item is reverse-worded. Requires the scale minimum and maximum."
},
{
"key": "scaleMin",
"label": "Scale minimum",
"value": "1",
"type": "text",
"maxLength": 40,
"help": "Lowest possible score, for example 1. Every score must lie inside the range."
},
{
"key": "scaleMax",
"label": "Scale maximum",
"value": "5",
"type": "text",
"maxLength": 40,
"help": "Highest possible score, for example 5."
},
{
"key": "missing",
"label": "Blank cells",
"value": "reject",
"type": "select",
"values": [
"reject",
"drop"
],
"labels": {
"reject": "Stop and show an error",
"drop": "Drop incomplete respondents"
}
},
{
"key": "confidence",
"label": "Confidence level",
"value": "0.95",
"type": "text",
"maxLength": 40,
"help": "A proportion from 0.5 to 0.9999, for example 0.95."
}
],
"registrationFamily": "statistical-analysis-reference",
"inputMaxLength": 1000000,
"inputErrorCode": "STATISTICAL_ANALYSIS_REFERENCE_TOO_LONG",
"note": "Runs on your device. Paste up to 1,000,000 characters of CSV with one column per item: 2 to 100 items in at most 100 columns, up to 10,000 respondents and 50,000 scores in total.",
"experience": {
"automatic": false,
"single": false,
"inputMaxLength": 1000000,
"inputMode": "text",
"label": "Item scores CSV",
"placeholder": "q1,q2,q3\n4,5,3",
"help": "One header row of item names, then one row per respondent with numeric scores. Up to 1,000,000 characters. Review the settings before running.",
"helpParts": [
"One header row of item names, then one row per respondent with numeric scores.",
"Up to 1,000,000 characters.",
"Review the settings before running."
],
"action": null
},
"mode": "explicit",
"interactive": false
},
"execution": "Browser interface",
"api": null,
"browser_agent": {
"supported": true,
"name": "run_current_tool",
"discovery": "WebMCP on the human page in a supporting browser",
"verification": "See audit/API-AUDIT.md; availability is not verification"
}
}Page guide
Check the internal consistency of a questionnaire scale with Cronbach's alpha, its confidence interval, alpha if each item is deleted and corrected item-total correlations. Reverse-worded items are recoded before analysis.
How to use Scale reliability checker
- Paste CSV with one column per item and one row per respondent.
- List any reverse-worded items (none are reversed by default) and give the scale minimum and maximum.
- Choose how blank cells are handled and the confidence level.
- Calculate, review weak items, and download the report and CSV tables.
Useful next steps
What alpha measures
Cronbach's alpha (Cronbach 1951, Psychometrika 16:297) compares the sum of item variances with the variance of the total score. The interval uses Feldt's F-distribution method (Feldt 1965, Psychometrika 30:357). Standardized alpha uses the mean inter-item correlation. Alpha if item deleted and the corrected item-total correlation (each item against the total of the other items) show which items fit the scale least.
Reverse coding
A reverse-worded item is recoded as minimum plus maximum minus the score before anything is computed. Forgetting this step can make alpha small or negative, so check the item-total correlations for negative values.
Assumptions and limits
Alpha assumes the items measure one construct with similar loadings. It is not evidence of validity, and a high value can come from many similar items. Blank cells either stop the analysis or drop the whole respondent.