Testing and Measurement : A User-Friendly Guide

List of Figures xi List of Tables xii A Note to Students xiii Acknowledgments xv 1. What Is a Number? Is a Rose Always a Rose? 1(18) Numbers and Scales 1(3) Nominal 1(1) Ordinal 2(1) Interval 3(1) Ratio 4(1) Some Final Thoughts About Scales of Measurement 4(2) Let's Check Your Understanding 5(1) Our Model Answers 6(1) Numbers and Response Formats 6(3) Dichotomous Responses 7(1) Continuous Responses (Likert Scales and Their Cousins) 8(1) Some Final Thoughts About Response Formats 9(2) Let's Check Your Understanding 10(1) Our Model Answers 10(1) Numbers and Test Scores—How Do They Relate? 11(1) Some Final Thoughts About Measurement Scales and Response Formats 12(1) Key Terms 12(1) Models and Self-instructional Exercises 13(5) Our Model 13(1) Our Model Answers 14(1) Now It's Your Turn 14(2) Our Model Answers 16(2) Words of Encouragement 18(1) 2. Frequencies: One Potato, Two Potato, Three Potato, Four 19(16) Ungrouped Frequency Distributions 19(3) Grouped Frequency Distributions 22(4) Let's Check Your Understanding 24(1) Our Model Answers 25(1) Cumulative Frequency Distribution 26(1) Some Final Thoughts About Frequency Distributions 27(1) Key Terms 28(1) Models and Self-instructional Exercises 28(6) Our Model 28(2) Our Model Answers 30(1) Now It's Your Turn 31(2) Our Model Answers 33(1) Words of Encouragement 34(1) 3. The Distribution of Test Scores—The Perfect Body? 35(12) Kurtosis 35(2) Let's Check Your Understanding 37(1) Our Model Answers 37(1) Skewness 37(4) Let's Check Your Understanding 40(1) Our Model Answers 41(1) Some Final Thoughts About Distribution of Test Scores 41(1) Key Terms 41(1) Models and Self-instructional Exercises 42(4) Our Model 42(1) Our Model Answers 43(1) Now It's Your Turn 43(2) Our Model Answers 45(1) Words of Encouragement 46(1) 4. Central Tendencies and Dispersion-Coming Together or Growing Apart 47(24) Central Tendencies—The Inner Core of the Normal Curve 47(1) The Mode 48(2) Let's Check Your Understanding 49(1) Our Model Answers 50(1) The Median 50(3) Let's Check Your Understanding 52(1) Our Model Answers 52(1) Medians and Modes for Grouped Frequency Data 53(1) The Mean 53(4) Let's Check Your Understanding 54(1) Our Model Answers 54(1) Now It's Your Turn 55(1) Our Model Answers 56(1) Some Final Points About Central Tendency 57(1) Dispersion—Not All Bodies Are the Same 57(1) Range 57(1) Deviation Scores 58(1) Variance 59(1) Standard Deviation 59(3) Let's Check Your Understanding 62(1) Our Model Answers 62(1) Means and Standard Deviations in the Real World 62(1) Key Terms 63(1) Models and Self-instructional Exercises 64(5) Our Model 64(1) Our Model Answers 65(2) Now It's Your Turn 67(1) Our Model Answers 68(1) Your New Best Friend—SPSS 69(1) Words of Encouragement 70(1) 5. Standardized Scores—Po You Measure Up? 71(22) Percentiles—What They Mean in Measurement 71(2) Percentile Ranks for Grouped Data 73(3) Let's Check Your Understanding 75(1) Our Model Answers 75(1) Some Final Thoughts About Percentile Ranks 76(1) Z Scores 77(1) Why Transform a Raw Score to a Z Score? 77(6) Let's Check Your Understanding 81(1) Our Model Answers 81(2) Now It's Your Turn 83(1) Our Model Answers 83(1) Other Standard Scores 83(2) T Scores 84(1) IQ Scores 84(1) Key Terms 85(1) Models and Self-instructional Exercises 86(4) Our Model 86(1) Now It's Your Turn 87(1) Our Model Answers 88(2) Your New Best Friend—SPSS 90(1) Words of Encouragement 91(2) 6. Norms and Criterion Scores—Keeping Up With the Joneses or Not 93(8) Criterion-Referenced Tests—Do You Know as Much as You Should? 93(2) Let's Check Your Understanding 94(1) Our Model Answers 94(1) Norm-Referenced Tests—Dying to Fit In 95(3) The Norm-Reference Group 95(1) The Fixed-Reference Group 96(1) Specific Group Norms 97(1) Let's Check Your Understanding 98(1) Our Model Answers 98(1) Key Terms 98(1) Models and Self-instructional Exercises 99(1) Our Model Answers 99(1) Words of Encouragement 100(1) 7. Error Scores—The Truth, the Whole Truth, and Nothing but the Truth? 101(10) Test Theory 101(2) Let's Check Your Understanding 102(1) Our Model Answers 103(1) Test-Theory Assumptions 103(3) Let's Check Your Understanding 105(1) Our Model Answers 106(1) Key Terms 106(1) Models and Self-instructional. Exercises 107(3) Our Model 107(1) Our Model Answers 108(1) Now It's Your Turn 109(1) Our Model Answers 109(1) Words of Encouragement 110(1) 8. Building a Strong Test—One the Big Bad Wolf Can't Blow Down 111(10) Let's Check Your Understanding 112(1) Our Model Answers 112(1) Item Difficulty 113(1) Some Final Thoughts About Item Difficulty 113(2) Let's Check Your Understanding 114(1) Our Model Answers 115(1) Item Discrimination 115(3) Let's Check Your Understanding 117(1) Our Model Answers 118(1) Key Terms 118(1) Models and Self-instructional Exercises 118(2) Our Model 118(1) Our Model Answers 119(1) Now It's Your Turn 119(1) Our Model Answers 120(1) Words of Encouragement 120(1) 9. Reliability—The Sane Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow 121(20) Let's Check Your Understanding 122(1) Our Model Answers 122(1) The Mathematical Foundation of Reliability 123(1) Let's Check Your Understanding 123(1) Our Model Answers 124(1) Types of Reliability Estimates 124(8) Test–Retest Reliability 124(2) Alternate Forms Reliability 126(1) Internal Consistency Reliability 127(2) Interrater Reliability 129(1) Let's Check Your Understanding 130(1) Our Model Answers 131(1) Standard Error of Measurement 132(2) Let's Check Your Understanding 133(1) Our Model Answers 134(1) Correlation Coefficients as Measures of Reliability 134(1) Some Final Thoughts About Reliability 135(1) Key Terms 135(1) Models and Self-instructional Exercises 135(5) Our Model 135(1) Our Model Answers 136(1) Now It's Your Turn 137(2) Our Model Answers 139(1) Words of Encouragement 140(1) 10. Validity—What You See Is Not Always What You Get 141(22) Let's Check Your Understanding 142(1) Our Model Answers 143(1) Helping You Get What You See 143(4) Validation Groups 144(1) Criteria 144(1) Construct Underrepresentation 145(1) Construct-Irrelevant Variance 145(1) Let's Check Your Understanding 146(1) Our Model Answers 146(1) Sources of Validity Evidence 147(6) Evidence Based on Test Content 147(1) Evidence of Criterion-Related Validity 148(2) Evidence of Construct Validity 150(1) Let's Check Your Understanding 151(1) Our Model Answers 152(1) The Marriage of Reliability and Validity—Wedded Bliss 153(1) Interpreting the Validity of Tests-Intended and Unintended Consequences 154(1) Some Final Thoughts About Validity 154(1) Key Terms 155(1) Models and Self-instructional Exercises 155(8) Our Model 155(2) Our Model Answers 157(1) Now It's Your Turn 158(2) Our Model Answers 160(2) Words of Encouragement 162(1) 11. The Perils and Pitfalls of Testing—Being Ethical 163(4) Your Own Competence 163(1) Rights of Those Being Tested 164(1) Potential Dangers 165(1) Ryan's Rights 166(1) Appendix 167(4) References 171(2) Index 173(10) About the Authors 183