Temporal reliability and validity of three sociometric status assessments with young children.

Abstract
Temporal reliability and validity of three sociometric methods, the single and multiple criteria nomination procedures and the rating scale were investigated among 36 five-to-six-year-old French-Canadian children (19 males, 17 females) during the winter term. Test-retest (3 weeks) correlations indicated that the multiple criteria nomination method is more reliable than the single criterion method and as reliable as the rating scale. Concurrent validity data are presented which supported all sociometric assessments. Thus, if one wants to use sociometric techniques as outcome measures in a school intervention program, multiple criteria nomination scores and the rating scale are recommended in terms of temporal reliability and validity at the kindergarten level.