Test Construction

PRINCIPLES AND
METHODS OF TEST
CONSTRUCTION.
Psychological
Testing.
Psychological testing is the branch of psychology in which we
use standardized tests, construct them in order to understand
individual differences. It measures quantitatively or
qualitatively one or more than one aspect of a trait by means
of a sample of verbal or non-verbal behaviors.
Purpose of
Psycological
Testing.
There are two objectives of a test:

• An attempt to compare the same person on two or more aspects or variables
of characteristics or trait.
• A comparison to be made between two individuals on the basis of a common
trait. This test can either be qualitative or quantitative
CHARACTERISTICS
OF A GOOD TEST.
For a test to be scientifically sound, it must possess the following characteristics.
OBJECTIVITY:
A test must have the trait of objectivity, that is it must be free from the subjective element so that there is complete interpersonal
agreement among experts regarding the meaning of items and scoring of the test.
RELIABILITY:
Reliability of a test refers to the quality of the test that may inspire confidence and trust for the measurement. Reliability is “Self-
correlation of the test.” It shows the extent to which the results obtained are consistent when the test is administered. Reliability thus
includes both internal consistencies as well as temporal consistency.
CHARACTERISTICS
OF A GOOD TEST.
VALIDITY:
Validity indicates the extent to which the test measures what it intends to measure when compared with some outside independent criteria.
In other words, it is the correlation of the test with some outside criteria. The criteria should be independent and should be regarded as the
best index of trait or ability being measured by the test.
NORMS:
Norm refers to the typical performance level for a certain group of individuals. Any psychological test with just the raw score is meaningless
until it is supplemented by additional data to interpret it further. Therefore, the cumulative total of a psychological test is generally inferred
through referring to the norms that depict the score of the standardized sample. Norms are factually demonstrated by establishing the
performance of individuals from a specific group in a test, i.e, norms refer to the “average performance of the representative sample on a
given test.”
Steps of Test Construction.
The development of a good psychological test requires thoughtful and sound application of established
principles of test construction.
A carefully constructed test where the scoring, administration and interpretation of
result follows a uniform process can be termed as a standardized test. Following
are the steps that can be followed to construct a standardized test:
Planning
Writing items for the test.
Preliminary administration of the test.
Reliability of the final test.
The validity of the final test.
Preparation of norms for the final test.
Preparation of manual and reproduction of the test.
Step#1
Planning
There needs to be a systematic planning in order to formulate a standardized test.
Its objectives should be carefully defined. The type of content should be determined for example using
short/long/very short answers or using multiple type questions, etc.
A blueprint must be ready with instructions to the method to be used for sampling, making the necessary
requirements for preliminary and final administration. The length, time for completing the test and
number of questions should be fixed.
Detailed and precise instructions should be given for administration of the test and also it’s scoring.
Step#2
Item Writing.
This requires a lot of creativity and is dependent on the imagination, expertise and knowledge. Its requirements
are:
• In-Depth knowledge of the subject.
• Awareness about the aptitude and ability of the individuals to be tested.
• Large vocabulary to avoid confusion in writing. Words should be simple and descriptive enough for everybody
to understand.
• Assembly and arrangement of items in a test must be proper, generally done in ascending order of difficulty.
• Detailed instructions of the objective, time limit and the steps of recording the answers must be given.
• Help from experts should be taken to crosscheck for subject and language errors.
Step#3
Preliminary Administration.
After modifying the items as per the advice of the experts the test can be tried out on experimental
basis, which is done to prune out any inadequacy or weakness of the item. It highlights ambiguous
items, irrelevant choices in multiple choice questions, items that are very difficult or easy to answer.
Also, the time duration of the test and number of items that are to be kept in the final test can be
ascertained, this avoids repetition and vagueness in the instructions.
Step#4
Reliability Of The Final Test.
The basis of the experimental or empirical tryout the test is finally composed of the selected items, the final
test is again administered on a fresh. For this purpose, we check the reliability of the test and it indicates
the consistency of scores.
If findings from the research are replicated consistently then they are reliable.
Step#5
Validity Of The Final Test.
It refers to the extent to which test claim to measure what it claims to measure.
If a test is reliable then it is not necessary, that it is valid but if a test is valid then it must be reliable. If a test
measures a trait that it intends to measure well then, the test can be said to be a
valid one. It is correlation of test with some outside independent criterion.
Step#6
Norms For The Test.
Test constructor also prepares norms of the test. Norms are defined as average performance scores.
They are prepared to meaningfully interpret the scores obtained on the test. The obtained scores on
test themselves convey no meaning regarding the ability or trait being measured. But when these are
compared with norms, a meaningful inference can be immediately drawn. The norms may be age
norms, grade norms etc.
Similar norms cannot be used for all tests.
Step#7
Manual and Reproduction of the
Test.
The last step in test construction is the preparation of a manual of the test. In the manual, the test
constructor reports the psychometric properties of the test, norms, and references. This gives a clear
indication regarding the procedures of the test administration, the scoring methods, and time limits if
any of the test.
It also includes instructions as well as the details of the arrangement of materials that is whether items
have been arranged in random order or in any other order. The test constructor finally orders for printing
of the test and the manual.
THANK
YOU
Presented by:- Niharika Bisht.

Test Construction

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PRINCIPLES AND

There are two objectives of a test:

Presented by:- Niharika Bisht.

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