Inventory of Religious Belief – IRB
Measures individual adherence to orthodox Christian religious beliefs.
Scale Development & Technical Details
Scale Overview
The Inventory of Religious Belief – IRB was developed by Daniel G. Brown and Warner L. Lowe (1951). It is designed to measure Orthodox Christian Religious Belief. The scale is intended for use with Adults and college students.
Scale Structure
This instrument consists of 15 items.
Response Format
Respondents rate each item using a custom response format.
Response anchors: 1 = Strongly disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Not sure, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly agree.
The scale includes 7 reverse-scored items to reduce acquiescence bias.
Scoring
Items are summed to produce a total score.
Total scores range from 15 to 75. Interpretation guidelines:
- Low Orthodoxy / Low Religiosity: 15 – 34
- Moderate Orthodoxy / Moderate Religiosity: 35 – 55
- High Orthodoxy / High Religiosity: 56 – 75
Psychometric Properties
Internal Consistency: The scale has demonstrated good to excellent internal consistency with reported Cronbach’s alpha values of High internal consistency (split-half reliability of .90+ reported in original studies).
Administration
The scale is self-administered and typically takes approximately 5 minutes to complete. It can be administered individually or in group settings. No special training is required for administration.