Homogeneity of kappa statistics in multiple samples

• Published in: Computer methods and programs in biomedicine Vol. 63; no. 1; pp. 43 - 46
• Main Author: Reed, James F
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Shannon Elsevier Ireland Ltd 01-08-2000; Elsevier Science
• Subjects: Analysis of Variance; Biological and medical sciences; Carotid Stenosis - diagnostic imaging; Computerized, statistical medical data processing and models in biomedicine; Data Interpretation, Statistical; Goodness-of-fit; Homogeneity; Humans; Kappa; Likelihood Functions; Medical sciences; Medical statistics; Multicenter Studies as Topic; Observer Variation; Programming Languages; Radiography; Reproducibility of Results; Software; Ultrasonography; Homogeneity; Kappa; Goodness-of-fit; Biomedical data processing; Statistical test; Data analysis; Algorithm performance; Goodness of fit test; Kappa number; Multiple sampling; Implementation
• ISSN: 0169-2607; 1872-7565
• DOI: 10.1016/S0169-2607(00)00074-2

The measurement of intra-observer agreement when the data are categorical has been the subject of several investigators since Cohen first proposed the kappa (
κ) as a chance-corrected coefficient of agreement for nominal scales. Subsequent procedures have been developed to assess the agreement of several raters using a dichotomous classification scheme, assess majority agreement among several raters using a polytomous classification scheme, and the use of
κ as an indicator of the quality of a measurement. Further developments include inference procedures for testing the homogeneity of
k≥2 independent kappa statistics. An executable FORTRAN code for testing the homogeneity of kappa statistics (
κ
h
) across multiple sites or studies is given. The FORTRAN program listing and/or executable programs are available from the author on request.