CRIJ Practice Test 2026 - Free Criminal Justice Practice Questions and Study Guide

Consistency of a measure across time or observers is reliability. It captures how stable and dependable the measurement is, aiming for results that don’t vary due to random error. If you administer the same measure on different occasions and get similar scores, that shows test-retest reliability. If different observers or raters score the same phenomenon similarly, that shows inter-observer reliability. Construct validity is about whether the instrument actually measures the intended construct, not about consistency over time or between observers. So reliability is the term that covers consistency across both time and observers.