Inter-rater reliability of the Pennsylvania independent monitoring for quality program’s essential data elements scale Anthony J. Goreczny * , Bree Miller, Brenda Dunmire, Geoffrey J. Tolge Chatham College, Woodland Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15232, USA Received 25 June 2004; received in revised form 28 September 2004; accepted 27 October 2004 Abstract The purpose of the independent monitoring for quality (IM4Q) program is to bridge commu- nication between individuals with mental retardation and the service providers on whom they rely. The IM4Q program uses an interview (essential data elements survey) to gather information about the lives of individuals with mental retardation. Collaboration between individuals with mental retarda- tion, family members, and community members provides diverse interviewing teams. This study evaluates inter-rater reliability of the essential data elements (EDE) survey. Findings show that 73 of the 74 questions had monitor agreement scores of 85% or higher.Inter-rater reliability of the Pennsylvania independent monitoring for quality program’s essential data elements scale # 2004 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Keywords: Inter-rater reliability; Pennsylvania; Quality program 1. Introduction A fundamental issue in psychological research is reliability of results gathered with data collection instruments. The concept of reliability means that an instrument will consistently gather information. ‘‘The reliability of a measure refers to the degree to Research in Developmental Disabilities 26 (2005) 231–241 * Corresponding author. E-mail address: goreczny@chatham.edu (A.J. Goreczny). 0891-4222/$ – see front matter # 2004 Published by Elsevier Ltd. doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2004.10.002