AIRS 6th Annual Meeting: 2015

Title: Test-retest reliability and repeated attempts in singing accuracy measurement
Authors: Bryan E. Nichols (University of Akron, Ohio), Sijia Wang (University of Akron, Ohio)

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the test-retest reliability of singing accuracy using
four common singing tasks. A secondary purpose was to evaluate the singing accuracy of
repeated attempts at test items to determine whether performance improves across repeated
attempts at identical items, remains stable, or decreases. Test stimuli appropriate for elementary
school students was duplicated from a previous study using five attempts each at a single pitch,
interval, and four-note pattern, plus one attempt at song singing. Children aged 5-12 were given
the singing accuracy test using pre-recorded stimuli administered one-on-one by the researcher.
Participants (N = 37) were audio-recorded. An identical form of the test was administered again
within 2-5 weeks. Pitch matching items were scored by measuring the deviation in Hertz from
the stimuli. The song singing item was scored by singing teachers using an 8-point scale with
acceptable inter-rater reliability (r > .90). Analyses addressing the first question of test-retest
reliability compared performance on each task between the first and second assessment dates.
For pitch matching tasks, there was no significant difference between the administration of the
first test and the second test, p > .05. For song singing, performance on the second test date was
significantly more accurate than the first test date, p = .023. These results will be discussed in
terms of test familiarity, testing habituation, time lapse between tests, and learning effects.
Results for the second question of repeated attempts will be discussed in terms of individual
and overall performance. While there was not significant difference between the five attempts at
each pitch matching task (p > .05), results will be discussed in terms of score distribution and
individual variability.