Inter-rater reliability is a measure of the consistency and agreement between two or more raters or observers in their assessments, judgments, or ratings of a particular phenomenon or behaviour. It is used in various fields, including psychology, sociology, education, medicine, and others, to ensure the validity and reliability of their research or evaluation.

In other words, inter-rater reliability refers to the degree to which different raters or observers produce similar or consistent results when evaluating the same thing. This can be measured using statistical methods such as Cohen's kappa coefficient, intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), or Fleiss' kappa, which take into account the number of raters, the number of categories or variables being rated, and the level of agreement among the raters.

High inter-rater reliability indicates that the raters are consistent in their judgments, while low inter-rater reliability suggests that the raters have different interpretations or criteria for evaluating the same phenomenon. Achieving high inter-rater reliability is crucial for ensuring the validity and generalisability of research findings or evaluation results.

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