Peer and teacher sociometrics for preschool children: Cross-informant concordance, temporal stability, and reliability

Cross-informant concordance (peers vs. teachers), temporal stability, and r eliability associated with sociometrics were systematically examined in a s ample of 84 preschoolers (M = 4.5 years). Structural equation modeling anal yses revealed that parallel forms of teacher and peer sociometrics measured overlapping and unique aspects of peer popularity. Reliability, a characte ristic of a measurement instrument (sociometric assessment), was differenti ated from stability, which is associated with the phenomenon or behavior be ing measured (children's peer popularity). Teacher-measured popularity was highly stable over an 8-week period, while peer-measured popularity showed lower stability. High reliability was found for both teacher and peer socio metrics. Child age and classroom participation rates did not alter the patt ern or magnitude of the modeled relationships.