Abstract
The purpose of this study was to assess the consistency reliability of shorr personality scales administered by the interview survey method. The method involved the interviewing of 432 Ss, selected on a stratified-random basis throughout greater Los Angeles. The interview included 3 short personality scales typical of those used in interview surveys. The scales consisted of a 7-item authoritarianism scale, a 6-item other-directedness scale, and a 3-item feeling of competence scale. The reliability of each scale was estimated by the Kuder-Richardson Formula 20. The results yielded consistency reliabilities of .38, .21, and .48 for the three scales. These values were sufficiently less than the consistency reliabilities of short-scale personality measures obtained by the questionnaire survey method to raise a serious question about the adequacy of short-scale personality measures obtained by the interview survey method.