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

by Neil J. Salkind, Bruce B. Frey

Overview

Neil J. Salkind’s bestselling Tests & Measurement for People Who (Think They) Hate Tests & Measurement, Fourth Edition guides readers through the categories, design, and use of tests, as well as social, political, and legal issues that the process of testing involves. New co-author Bruce B. Frey has streamlined the organization for ease of use; added more content on validity and reliability; more closely connected standardized tests to classroom instruction; and added a chapter on surveys and scale development.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781071817179
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Publication date:	10/13/2022
Edition description:	Fourth Edition
Pages:	360
Sales rank:	882,201
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 10.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Neil J. Salkind received his Ph D in human development from the University of Maryland, and after teaching for 35 years at the University of Kansas, he was Professor Emeritus in the Department of Psychology and Research in Education, where he collaborated with colleagues and work with students. His early interests were in the area of children’s cognitive development, and after research in the areas of cognitive style and (what was then known as) hyperactivity, he was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of North Carolina’s Bush Center for Child and Family Policy. His work then changed direction to focus on child and family policy, specifically the impact of alternative forms of public support on various child and family outcomes. He delivered more than 150 professional papers and presentations; written more than 100 trade and textbooks; and is the author of Statistics for People Who (Think They) Hate Statistics (SAGE), Theories of Human Development (SAGE), and Exploring Research (Prentice Hall). He has edited several encyclopedias, including the Encyclopedia of Human Development, the Encyclopedia of Measurement and Statistics, and the Encyclopedia of Research Design. He was editor of Child Development Abstracts and Bibliography for 13 years. He lived in Lawrence, Kansas, where he liked to read, swim with the River City Sharks, work as the proprietor and sole employee of big boy press, bake brownies (see www.statisticsforpeople.com for the recipe), and poke around old Volvos and old houses.

Bruce B. Frey, Ph D, is an award-winning teacher and scholar at the University of Kansas. He has authored more than 100 research articles and papers. Among his books are the best-selling textbook, Statistics for People Who (Think They) Hate Statistics, Modern Classroom Assessment, and There’s a Stat for That!, all published by SAGE, and Stat Hacks published by O’Reilly. He is the editor of The SAGE Encyclopedia of Educational Research, Measurement, and Evaluation. In his free time, he celebrates bubblegum pop music of the late 1960s on his popular podcast, Echo Valley.

Table of Contents

Preface xv

Acknowledgments xix

About the Authors xxi

Part I The Basics 1

Chapter 1 Why Measurement? An Introduction 3

Learning Objectives 3

A Five-Minute History of Testing 5

So, Why Tests and Measurement? 8

What We Test 9

Why We Test 11

What Makes a Good last Any Good? 12

Some Important Reminders 12

How Tests Are Created 13

So What's New? 13

What Am I Doing in a Tests and Measurements Class? 15

Ten Ways Not to Hate This Book (and Learn About Tests and Measurement at the Same Time!) 16

The Famous Difficulty Index 19

Glossary 19

Summary 19

Time to Practice 19

Chapter 2 Levels of Measurement and Their Importance: One Potato, Two Potato 21

Learning Objectives 21

First Things First 22

The Four Horsemen (or Levels) of Measurement 23

The Nominal Level of Measurement 23

The Ordinal Level of Measurement 25

The Interval Level of Measurement 26

The Ratio Level of Measurement 28

A Summary: How Levels of Measurement Differ 29

Okay, So What's the Lesson Here? 30

The Final Word(s) on Levels of Measurement 31

Summary 32

Time to Practice 33

Want to Know More? 33

Further Readings 33

And on Some Interesting Websites 34

And in the Real Testing World 34

Chapter 3 Reliability and Its Importance: Getting It Right Every Time 37

Learning Objectives 37

Test Scores: Truth or Dare 39

Getting Conceptual 40

Putting a Number on Reliability 42

Computing a Simple Correlation Coefficient 42

Different Flavors of Reliability 46

Test-Retest Reliability 47

Interrater Reliability 49

Parallel Forms Reliability 50

Internal Consistency Reliability 51

Cronbach's Alpha (or α) 56

The Last One: Internal Consistency When You're Right or Wrong, and Kuder-Richardson 57

How Big Is Big? Interpreting Reliability Coefficients 59

Things to Remember 60

And If You Can't Establish Reliability … Then What? 61

Just One More Thing (and It's a Big One) 62

Summary 62

Time To Practice 63

Want to Know More? 64

Further Readings 64

And on Some Interesting Websites 64

And in the Real Testing World 64

Chapter 4 Validity and Its Importance: The Truth, the Whole Truth, and Nothing but the Truth 67

Learning Objectives 67

A Bit More About the Truth 68

Reliability and Validity: Very Close Cousins 69

Different Types of Validity Arguments 70

Content-Based Validity 71

Criterion-Based Validity 73

Construct-Based Validity 76

And If You Can't Establish Validity … Then What? 81

A Last Friendly Word 81

Summary 82

Time to Practice 82

Want to Know More? 83

Further Readings 83

And on Some Interesting Websites 83

And in the Real Testing World 84

Chapter 5 Scores, Stats, and Curves: Are You Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw? 85

Learning Objectives 85

The Basics: Raw (Scores) to the Bone! 87

Percentiles (or Percentile Ranks) 88

What's to Love About Percentiles 91

What's Not to Love About Percentiles 91

Looking at the World Through Norm-Referenced Glasses 91

Computing the Mean 92

Some Things to Remember About the Mean 93

Computing the Mode 95

Understanding Variability 95

Computing the Standard Deviation 96

Some Things to Remember About the Standard Deviation 98

The Normal Curve (or the Bell-Shaped Curve) 99

More Normal Curve 101 100

The Standard Stuff 103

Our Favorite Standard Score: The z Score 103

What's to Love About z Scores 106

What's Not to Love About z Scores 106

T Scores to the Rescue 106

Standing on Your Own: Criterion-Referenced Tests 108

The Standard Error of Measurement 108

What the SEM Means 109

Summary 110

Time to Practice 110

Want to Know More? 111

Further Readings 111

And on Some Interesting Websites 112

And in the Real Testing World 112

Chapter 6 Item Response Theory: The "New" Kid on the Block 113

Learning Objectives 113

The Beginnings of item Response Theory 114

This Is No Regular Curve: The Item Characteristic Curve 116

Test Items We Like-and Test Items We Don't 117

Understanding the Curve 120

Putting a, b, and c Together 122

Analyzing Test Data Using IRTPRO 123

Seeing Is Believing 125

Summary 126

Time to Practice 127

Want to Know More? 127

Further Readings 127

And on Some Interesting Websites 128

And in the Real Testing World 128

Part II Types of Tests 129

Chapter 7 Achievement Tests: Is Life a Multiple-Choice Test? 131

Learning Objectives 131

How Achievement Tests Are Used 132

Teacher-Made (or Researcher-Made) Tests Versus Standardized Achievement Tests 133

Criterion- Versus Norm-Referenced Tests 134

How to Do It: The ABCs of Creating a Standardized Test 136

The Amazing Table of Specifications 138

What They Are: A Sampling of Achievement Tests and What They Do 142

Validity and Reliability of Achievement Tests 143

Summary 146

Time to Practice 146

Want to Know More? 147

Further Readings 147

And on Some Interesting Websites 147

And in the Real Testing World 148

Chapter 8 Aptitude Tests: What's in Store for Me? 149

Learning Objectives 149

What Aptitude Tests Do 150

How to Do It: The ABCs of Creating an Aptitude Test 151

Types of Aptitude Tests 154

Mechanical Aptitude Tests 154

Artistic Aptitude Tests 154

Readiness Aptitude Tests 154

Clerical Aptitude Tests 155

What They Are: A Sampling of Aptitude Tests and What They Do 155

Validity and Reliability of Aptitude Tests 158

Summary 158

Time to Practice 158

Want to Know More? 159

Further Reading 159

And on Some Interesting Websites 159

And in the Real Testing World 160

Chapter 9 Intelligence Tests: Am I Smarter Than My Smart Phone? 161

Learning Objectives 161

The ABCs of Intelligence 161

The Big g 162

More Than Just the Big g: The Multiple-Factor Approach 163

"Book Smart" or "Street Smart"? 164

The Three-Way Deal 164

Way More Than One Type of Intelligence: Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligences 165

Emotional Intelligence: An Idea That Feels Right 166

From the Beginning: (Almost) All About the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale 167

A Bit of History of the IQ 167

What's the Score? Administering the Stanford-Binet (and Other Tests of Intelligence) 169

And the Fab Five Are … 170

Validity and Reliability of intelligence Tests 170

Summary 173

Time to Practice 173

Want to Know More? 174

Further Readings 174

And on Some Interesting Websites 174

And in the Real Testing World 175

Chapter 10 Personality and Neuropsychology Tests: It's Not You, It's Me 177

Learning Objectives 177

What Personality Tests Are and How They Work 178

Objective or Projective: You Tell Me 178

Developing Personality Tests 181

Using Content and Theory 181

Using a Criterion Group 182

The Many Dimensions of Factor Analysis 184

What They Are: A Sampling of Personality Tests and What They Do 186

What Neuropsychological Tests Are and How They Are Used 189

Not Just One: The Focus of Neuropsychological Testing 190

Intelligence 190

Memory 191

Language 191

Executive Function 191

Visuospatial Ability 192

Forensic Assessment: The Truth, the Whole Truth, and Nothing but the Truth 192

What Forensic Assessment Does 192

Validity and Reliability of Personality Tests 193

Summary 194

Time to Practice 194

Want to Know More? 195

Further Readings 195

And on Some Interesting Websites 195

And in the Real Testing World 196

Chapter 11 Career Choices: Have We Got a Job for You! 197

Learning Objectives 197

What Career Development Tests Do 198

Let's Get Started: The Strong Interest Inventory 199

John Holland and the Self-Directed Search 201

Some Major Caveats: Career Counseling 101 203

Five Career Tests 204

Validity and Reliability of Career Development Tests 207

Summary 207

Time to Practice 207

Want to Know More? 208

Further Readings 208

And on Some interesting Websites 209

And in the Real Testing World 209

Part III Classroom Assessment 211

Chapter 12 Picking the Right Answer: Choose Your Own Destiny 213

Learning Objectives 213

Your Old Friends 214

Multiple-Choice Items 214

Multiple-Choice Anatomy 101 215

How to Write Multiple-Choice Items: The Rules 215

Matchmaker, Matchmaker, Make Me a Match 217

How to Write Matching Items: The Rules 218

Are You Lying Now, or Were You Lying Then? 218

How to Write 'Em: The Guidelines 219

Supply Items That Score Like Selection Items Are Fill in the _? 220

Selected Rules for These Objectively Scored Supply Items 220

Validity and Reliability of Objectively Scored Items 222

Summary 223

Time to Practice 223

Want to Know More? 224

Further Readings 224

And on Some Interesting Websites 224

And in the Real Testing World 224

Chapter 13 Building the Right Answer: Construction Work Ahead 227

Learning Objectives 227

Performance Anxiety: Measuring Skill and Ability 228

Putting It Together: Constructed-Response Items 228

What Constructed-Response Items Look Like 229

Designing Good Constructed-Response Items 230

Doing Things the Write Way 231

How to Write Essay Items: The Guidelines 232

Quality Is Job One: Rubrics 233

What Does a Good Rubric Look Like? 233

What's So Great About Rubrics? 235

More Than a Number: Portfolios 235

Validity and Reliability of Constructed-Response and Performance-Based Items 237

Summary 238

Time to Practice 238

Want to Know More? 239

Further Readings 239

And on Some Interesting Websites 239

And in the Real Testing World 239

Part IV Researcher-Made Instruments 241

Chapter 14 Surveys and Scale Development: What Are They Thinking? 243

Learning Objectives 243

Surveying the Landscape 244

Steps in Scale Development 244

How Do I Ask It in the Form of a Question (for $200, Alex)? 246

Questions About Facts: Where Were You on the Night of the 7th?! 246

Questions About Attitudes: You Feel Me? 248

Our Feelings About Attitude: Most Like Likert (but Some Like Thurstone More) 249

The Thurstone Method 251

Don't Ignore Me! Strategies for Increasing Response Rate 253

Summary 255

Time to Practice 256

Want to Know More? 256

Further Readings 256

And on Some Interesting Websites 256

And in the Real Testing World 256

Part V Fair Testing 259

Chapter 15 Truth and Justice for All: Test Bias and Universal Design 261

Learning Objectives 261

The $64,000 Question: What Is Test Bias? 262

Test Bias or Test Fairness? 263

Moving Toward Fair Tests: The FairTest Movement 264

Models of Test Bias 265

The Difference-Difference Bias 265

Item by Item 266

On the Face of Things Model 267

The Cleary Model 268

Playing Fair 268

Universal Design 269

Riddle Me This: When Are a Building and a Test the Same? 270

Designing the Best Tests in the Universe 270

Summary 272

Time to Practice 272

Want to Know More? 272

Further Readings 272

And on Some Interesting Websites 273

And in the Real Tasting World 273

Chapter 16 Laws, Ethics, and Standards: The Professional Practice of Tests and Measurement 275

Learning Objectives 275

What the Government Says 276

Essa and Nickleby: The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and No Child Left Behind (NCLB) 276

Full Inclusion and Universal Access: The Education for All Handicapped Children Act and the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act 278

The Truth in Testing Law: High-Stakes Testing 280

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act: What It Is and How It Works 282

The Right Way to Do Right 283

From Whence We Came 283

How the Pros Roll 289

What's in the Standards? 289

And More Stuff to Be Concerned About (No, Really) 290

The Flynn Effect: Getting Smarter All the Time 291

Teacher Competency: So You Think You're Ready for the Big Time? 291

School Admissions: Sorry, No Room This Year 292

Cyril Burt: Are We Born With It? 293

Summary 294

Time to Practice 294

Want to Know More? 294

Further Readings 294

And on Some Interesting Websites 295

And in the Real Testing World 295

Appendix A The Guide to Finding Out About (Almost) Every Test in the Universe 299

Appendix B Answers to Practice Questions 305

Glossary 321

Index 327

Editorial Reviews

My students say over and over again how useful this text was and that they will keep the book as a reference instead of selling it at the end of the semester!

Janet A. Boberg

[Salkind’s] writing style and graphics are the keys to the successful delivery of some very difficult subject matter to some students with little or no prior knowledge of testing and measurement.

Brady K. Le Vrier

The real-world examples and journal article citations presented within each chapter are very useful. I like having the references and the ability to share the full article with students. I find the use of humor throughout the book as a key component. Very serious topics (which can sometimes produce anxiety in students) are approached in a humorous manner that prevents students from becoming anxious as they start the material.

Susan L. Churchill

It is extremely readable even with all the technical information. People who may have little confidence in their ability to comprehend this difficult subject matter are hooked by the conversational approach of the author.

Justina D. Pedante

"The slight balance of technical material with non technical explanations and examples."

H Lawrence Jones

“[Salkind’s] writing style and graphics are the keys to the successful delivery of some very difficult subject matter to some students with little or no prior knowledge of testing and measurement.”

Brady K. LeVrier