The Reliability and Stability of General Media Exposure Measures

Relatively little research has examined the reliability and stability of media exposure measures. To address this issue, this study examines the reliability and stability of general media exposure measures using three rounds of the National Survey of Parents and Youth (NSPY), an in-home nationally representative panel survey of around 8,000 children (aged 9–18) and 6,000 of their parents. Using a structural equation model first suggested by Wiley and Wiley (1970), we find that the measures for youth show moderate reliability with latent variables showing moderate to high stability. For parents, reliability is moderate and but latent variable stability is high. The implications of the findings for future research in this area are discussed.

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