A correction for replicated error in correlation coefficients

A solution is presented to the problem of determining a proper correction for spuriousness in correlation coefficients. The general case developed is the estimate of correlation betweenu andv, both being linear functions of the same set of variables. Special formulae relate to overlapping scales correlations, part-whole correlations, and item-total test correlations.The research and development reported herein was performed pursuant to a contract with the United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Office of Education, under the provisions of the Cooperative Research Program. This research was conducted by the Evaluation Division of the Research and Development Center in Educational Stimulation. The authors wish to thank E. E. Cureton for his helpful suggestions.