Tests and Measurement for People Who (Think They) Hate Tests and Measurement

by Neil J. Salkind

• ISBN13: 9781412913645
• ISBN10: 1412913640
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-09-28
• Publisher: SAGE Publications, Inc

Summary

Tests & Measurement for People Who (Think They) Hate Tests & Measurement is ideal for undergraduate and graduate students in the social and behavioral sciences who are taking their first courses in tests and measurement. Neil J. Salkind guides readers through the fundamentals of tests and measurement, using the conversational writing style and straightforward presentation that have made his book Statistics for People Who (Think They) Hate Statistics a bestseller. This book introduces readers to more advanced issues and explains why those topics are important. 'œWhat is amazing about this text is how it takes some very difficult material (particularly around reliability and validity, z-scores, etc.) and makes it easily understandable by an undergraduate student. Just as in his statistics book, Salkind has a genius for conveying difficult material in everyday language that engages the reader. This is the perfect text for any research methods instructor who has struggled with making testing and measurement concepts both understandable and FUN." '- John Q. Hodges, University of Missouri, Columbia 'œThe distinguishing factor with this book is the illustrative material. The 'œTech Talk' boxes are helpful for students to quickly get the grasp of a concept and find it to review later. The new vocabulary in tests and measurements is often an obstacle, and these boxes help tremendously'¦. If there is a tests and measurements book that can enlighten and entertain, this book is the one." '- Joseph Matthews, Brigham Young University 'œThe author does a wonderful job conveying concepts clearly and with panache. Undergraduate audiences will be able to follow but not be bored. The book has a strong, consistent voice and I really enjoyed this and felt well cared for as a reader. The discussion on reliability and validity, for example, is better integrated and therefore more useful than any methods text I have read'¦. It's true. I hate tests but I liked this book." '- Christopher P. Bettinger, San Francisco State University 'œSalkind's book may not make test-taking painless, but it certainly makes learning about tests and measurements less painful. The book is a simple, informative, and easy-to-read introduction to all the basics of what seemed previously to be a difficult subject." '- Denise von Herrmann, The University of Southern Mississippi

Table of Contents

A Note to the Student: Why I Wrote This Book	xxi
Acknowledgments	xxiii
PART I In the Beginning ...	1	(22)
Why Me-asurement? An Introduction	3	(20)
A Five-Minute History of Testing	4	(4)
So, Why Tests and Measurement?	8	(4)
What We Test	9	(2)
Why We Test	11	(1)
Some Important Reminders	12	(2)
What Am I Doing in a Tests and Measurement Class?	14	(2)
Ten Ways to Use This Book (and Learn About Tests and Measurement at the Same Time!)	16	(4)
About Those Icons	19	(1)
The Famous Difficulty Index	20	(1)
Glossary	20	(1)
Summary	20	(1)
Time to Practice	20	(3)
PART II The Psychology of Psychometrics	23	(84)
One Potato, Two Potatoes ... Levels of Measurement and Their Importance	25	(12)
First Things First	25	(2)
The Four Horsemen (or Levels) of Measurement	27	(4)
The Nominal Level of Measurement	27	(1)
The Ordinal Level of Measurement	28	(1)
The Interval Level of Measurement	29	(2)
The Ratio Level of Measurement	31	(1)
A Summary: How Levels of Measurement Differ	31	(1)
OK, So What's the Lesson Here?	32	(1)
The Final Word(s)	33	(1)
Summary	34	(1)
Time to Practice	35	(1)
Answers to Practice Questions	35	(1)
Want to Know More?	36	(1)
Further Readings	36	(1)
And on the Internet	36	(1)
Getting It Right Every Time: Reliability and Its Importance	37	(26)
Test Scores: Truth or Dare	38	(1)
Getting Conceptual	39	(2)
If You Know About rxy, Skip This Section ...	41	(1)
Different Flavors of Reliability	42	(15)
Test-Retest Reliability	42	(3)
Parallel Forms Reliability	45	(1)
Internal Consistency Reliability	46	(9)
Interrater Reliability	55	(2)
How Big Is Big? Interpreting Reliability Coefficients	57	(1)
And If You Can't Establish Reliability ... Then What?	58	(1)
Just One More Thing (and It's a Big One)	59	(1)
Summary	59	(1)
Time to Practice	60	(1)
Answers to Practice Questions	61	(1)
Want to Know More?	61	(2)
Further Readings	61	(1)
And on the Internet	62	(1)
The Truth, the Whole Truth, and Nothing But the Truth: Validity and Its Importance	63	(18)
A Bit More About the Truth	64	(1)
Reliability and Validity: Very Close Cousins	65	(1)
Different Types of Validity	65	(11)
Content Validity	66	(2)
Criterion Validity	68	(3)
Construct Validity	71	(4)
And If You Can't Establish Validity ... Then What?	75	(1)
A Last Friendly Word	76	(1)
Summary	77	(1)
Time to Practice	77	(1)
Answers to Practice Questions	78	(1)
Want to Know More?	78	(3)
Further Readings	78	(1)
And on the Internet	79	(2)
Welcome to Lake Woebegone, Where All the Children Are Above Average: Norms and Percentiles	81	(26)
The Basics: Raw (Scores) to the Bone!	83	(1)
Percentiles or Percentile Ranks	84	(7)
Percentiles: The Sequel	88	(2)
What's to Love About Percentiles	90	(1)
What's Not to Love About Percentiles	91	(1)
Stanines (or Stanine Scores)	91	(4)
What's to Love About Stanines	94	(1)
What's Not to Love About Stanines	94	(1)
The Standard (Fare) Scores	95	(6)
Our Favorite Standard Score: The z Score	95	(4)
Normalized Standard Scores	99	(1)
T Scores to the Rescue	99	(2)
Standing on Your Own: Criterion-Referenced Tests	101	(1)
The Standard Error of Measurement	102	(2)
What the SEM Means	103	(1)
Summary	104	(1)
Time to Practice	104	(1)
Answers to Practice Questions	105	(1)
Want to Know More?	106	(1)
Further Readings	106	(1)
And on the Internet	106	(1)
PART III The Tao and How of Testing	107	(94)
Short Answer and Completion Items: Baskin Robbins® Has __ Flavors	109	(10)
When We Use `Em and What They Look Like	109	(1)
How to Write `Em: The Guidelines	110	(3)
The Good and the Bad	113	(3)
Why Completion and Short Answer Items Are Good	114	(1)
Why Completion and Short Answer Items Are Not So Good	114	(2)
Summary	116	(1)
Time to Practice	116	(1)
Answers to Practice Questions	116	(1)
Want to Know More?	117	(2)
Further Readings	117	(1)
And on the Internet	118	(1)
Essay Items: Hope You Can Write	119	(14)
When We Use `Em and What They Look Like	119	(2)
How to Write Essay Items: The Guidelines	121	(3)
The Good and the Bad	124	(2)
Why Essay Items Are Good	124	(1)
Why Essay Items Are Not So Good	125	(1)
How to Score Essay Items	126	(3)
Summary	129	(1)
Time to Practice	129	(1)
Answers to Practice Questions	129	(1)
Want to Know More?	130	(3)
Further Readings	130	(1)
And on the Internet	131	(2)
Multiple-Choice Items: Always Pick Answer C and You'll Be Right About 25% of the Time	133	(24)
When We Use `Em and What They Look Like	133	(3)
Multiple-Choice Anatomy 101	135	(1)
How to Write Multiple-Choice Items: The Guidelines	136	(4)
The Good and the Bad	140	(4)
Why Multiple-Choice Items Are Good	140	(1)
Why Multiple-Choice Items Are Not So Good	141	(3)
Analyzing Multiple-Choice Items	144	(9)
Computing the Difficulty Index	148	(1)
Computing the Discrimination Index	149	(1)
How the Difficulty and Discrimination Index Get Along: Quite Well, Thank You	150	(3)
Summary	153	(1)
Time to Practice	154	(1)
Answers to Practice Questions	154	(1)
Want to Know More?	155	(2)
Further Readings	155	(1)
And on the Internet	156	(1)
Matchmaker, Matchmaker, Make Me a Match: Matching Items	157	(12)
When We Use `Em and What They Look Like	157	(3)
How to Write `Em: The Guidelines	160	(2)
The Good and the Bad	162	(3)
Why Matching Items Are Good	163	(1)
Why Matching Items Are Not So Good	164	(1)
Summary	165	(1)
Time to Practice	165	(1)
Answers to Practice Questions	166	(1)
Want to Know More?	167	(2)
Further Readings	167	(1)
And on the Internet	167	(2)
True-False Tests: T or F? I Passed My First Measurement Test	169	(12)
What We Use `Em for	169	(1)
How to Write `Em: The Guidelines	170	(3)
The Good and the Bad	173	(4)
Why True-False Items Are Good	174	(1)
Why True-False Items Are Not So Good	174	(3)
Summary	177	(1)
Time to Practice	177	(1)
Answers to Practice Questions	178	(1)
Want to Know More?	178	(3)
Further Readings	178	(1)
And on the Internet	179	(2)
Portfolios: Seeing the Big Picture	181	(8)
What Portfolios Are and How They Work	181	(5)
What's a Good Portfolio?	183	(2)
How Portfolios Work	185	(1)
Summary	186	(1)
Time to Practice	187	(1)
Answers to Practice Questions	187	(1)
Want to Know More?	188	(1)
Further Readings	188	(1)
And on the Internet	188	(1)
So, Tell Me About Your Childhood: Interesting Interviews	189	(12)
When We Use `Em and What They Look Like	189	(4)
Interviews: A Flavor for Everyone	190	(3)
How to Do `Em: The Guidelines	193	(4)
The Good and the Bad	197	(1)
Why Interview Items Are Good	198	(1)
Why Interview Items Are Not So Good	198	(1)
Summary	198	(1)
Time to Practice	199	(1)
Answers to Practice Questions	199	(1)
Want to Know More?	200	(1)
Further Readings	200	(1)
And on the Internet	200	(1)
PART IV What to Test and How to Test It	201	(84)
Achievement Tests: Who Really Discovered America?	203	(18)
What Achievement Tests Do	203	(2)
How Achievement Tests Differ From One Another	205	(2)
Teacher (or Researcher) Made Versus Standardized Achievement Tests	205	(1)
Group Versus Individual Achievement Tests	206	(1)
Criterion- Versus Norm-Referenced	206	(1)
How to Do It: The ABCs of Creating a Standardized Test	207	(2)
The Amazing Table of Specifications	209	(5)
What They Are: A Sampling of Achievement Tests and What They Do	214	(1)
Summary	214	(1)
Time to Practice	214	(5)
Answers to Practice Questions	219	(1)
Want to Know More?	220	(1)
Further Readings	220	(1)
And on the Internet	220	(1)
Personality Tests: Type A, Type B, or Type C?	221	(16)
What Personality Tests Are and How They Work	221	(3)
Objective or Projective: You Tell Me	222	(2)
Developing Personality Tests	224	(6)
Using Content and Theory	224	(1)
Using a Criterion Group	225	(3)
Using Factor Analysis	228	(1)
Using Personality Theory	229	(1)
What They Are: A Sampling of Personality Tests and What They Do	230	(4)
Summary	234	(1)
Time to Practice	234	(1)
Answers to Practice Questions	234	(1)
Want to Know More?	235	(2)
Further Readings	235	(1)
And on the Internet	236	(1)
Aptitude Tests: What's in Store for Me?	237	(14)
What Aptitude Tests Do	238	(1)
How to Do It: The ABCs of Creating an Aptitude Test	239	(3)
Types of Aptitude Tests	242	(2)
Mechanical Aptitude Tests	242	(1)
Artistic Aptitude Tests	242	(1)
Readiness Aptitude Tests	243	(1)
Clerical Aptitude Tests	244	(1)
Some of the Big Ones	244	(1)
Summary	244	(4)
Time to Practice	248	(1)
Answers to Practice Questions	248	(1)
Want to Know More?	248	(3)
Further Readings	248	(1)
And on the Internet	249	(2)
Intelligence Tests: That Rubik's Cube Is Driving Me Nuts	251	(18)
The ABCs of Intelligence	252	(6)
The Big ``g''	253	(1)
More Than Just the Big ``g'': The Multiple Factor Approach	254	(1)
The Three-Way Deal	255	(1)
Way More Than One Type of Intelligence: Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligences	255	(2)
Emotional Intelligence: A Really Different Idea	257	(1)
From the Beginning: (Almost) All About the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale	258	(4)
A Bit of History	258	(3)
What's the Score? Administering the Stanford-Binet (and Other Tests of Intelligence)	261	(1)
And the Fab Five Are ...	262	(4)
Summary	266	(1)
Time to Practice	266	(1)
Answers to Practice Questions	267	(1)
Want to Know More?	267	(2)
Further Readings	267	(1)
And on the Internet	267	(2)
Career Choices: So You Want to Be a What?	269	(16)
What Career Development Tests Do	270	(1)
Let's Get Started: The Strong Interest Inventory	270	(3)
John Holland and the Self-Directed Search (SDS)	273	(2)
Some Major Caveats: Career Counseling 101	275	(2)
Five Career Tests	277	(1)
Summary	277	(1)
Time to Practice	277	(4)
Answers to Practice Questions	281	(1)
Want to Know More?	282	(3)
Further Readings	282	(1)
And on the Internet	282	(3)
PART V It's Not Always As You Think: Issues in Tests and Measurement	285	(32)
Test Bias: Fair for Everyone?	287	(14)
The $64,000 Question: What Is Test Bias?	287	(3)
Test Bias or Test Fairness?	288	(2)
Moving Toward Fair Tests: The FairTest Movement	290	(1)
Models of Test Bias	291	(6)
The Difference-Difference Bias	291	(1)
Item by Item	292	(1)
On the Face of Things	292	(1)
The Cleary Model	293	(1)
Playing Fair	294	(2)
Where It All Started: Test Differences Between Black and White American Children	296	(1)
Summary	297	(1)
Time to Practice	297	(1)
Answers to Practice Questions	298	(1)
Want to Know More?	298	(3)
Further Readings	298	(1)
And on the Internet	299	(2)
The Law, Testing, and Ethics: No Child (Should Be) Left Behind and Other Concerns	301	(16)
No Child Left Behind or NCLB: What It Is and How It Works	301	(4)
How Testing Fits in	302	(1)
What's Assessed and How	303	(1)
What's the Big Deal About NCLB?	304	(1)
The Education for All Handicapped Children Act and the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act: What They Are and How They Work	305	(2)
What IDEA Does	306	(1)
The Truth in Testing Law: High-Stakes Testing	307	(2)
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, or FERPA: What It Is and How It Works	309	(2)
Ethics and Assessment: 10 Things to Remember	311	(2)
Summary	313	(1)
Time to Practice	313	(1)
Answers to Practice Questions	314	(1)
Want to Know More?	314	(3)
Further Readings	314	(1)
And on the Internet	315	(2)
Appendixes	317	(28)
Appendix A: Your Tests and Measurement Toolkit	319	(22)
Appendix B: The Guide to (Almost) Every Test in the Universe	341	(4)
Glossary	345	(12)
References	357	(2)
Index	359	(12)
About the Author	371