RESEARCH METHOD COHEN ok

19 Tests
Introduction
Since the spelling test of Rice (1897), the fatigue
test of Ebbinghaus (1897) and the intelligence
scale of Binet (1905), the growth of tests has
proceeded at an extraordinary pace in terms of
volume, variety, scope and sophistication. The
field of testing is so extensive that the comments
that follow must needs be of an introductory nature
and the reader seeking a deeper understanding will
need to refer to specialist texts and sources on the
subject. Limitations of space permit no more than
abriefoutlineofasmallnumberofkeyissuesto
do with tests and testing.
In tests, researchers have at their disposal a
powerful method of data collection, an impressive
array of tests for gathering data of a numerical
rather than verbal kind. In considering testing for
gathering research data, several issues need to be
borne in mind, not the least of which is why tests
are being used at all:
What are we testing (e.g. achievement,
aptitude, attitude, personality, intelligence,
social adjustment etc.)
Are we dealing with parametric or nonparametric
tests
Are they norm-referenced or criterionreferenced
Are they available commercially for researchers
to use or will researchers have to develop homeproduced
tests
Do the test scores derive from a pretest and
post-test in the experimental method
Are they group or individual tests
Do they involve self-reporting or are they
administered tests
Let us unpack some of these issues.
What are we testing
There is a myriad of tests, to cover all aspects of a
student’s life and for all ages (young children to old
adults), for example: aptitude, attainment, personality,
social adjustment, attitudes and values, stress
and burnout, performance, projective tests, potential,
ability, achievement, diagnosis of difficulties,
intelligence, verbal and non-verbal reasoning,
higher order thinking, performance in school subjects,
introversion and extraversion, self-esteem,
locus of control, depression and anxiety, reading
readiness, university entrance tests, interest inventories,
language proficiency tests, motivation and
interest, sensory and perceptual tests, special abilities
and disabilities, and many others. The Mental
Measurement Yearbooks and Tests in Print are useful
sources of published tests, as well as specific publishers
such as Harcourt Assessment and John Wiley.
The American Psychological Association also
produces on its web site Finding Information about
Psychological Tests (http://www.apa.org/science/
faq-findtests.html) and the British Psychological
Society (http://www.bps.org.uk, http://www.
psychtesting.org.uk and http://www.bps.org.uk/
the-society/psych testing/psych testing home.
cfm) produces lists of tests and suppliers. Standard
texts that detail copious tests, suppliers and
web sites include Gronlund and Linn (1990),
Kline (2000), Loewenthal (2001) and Aiken
(2003).
Parametric and non-parametric tests
Parametric tests are designed to represent the wide
population, e.g. of a country or age group. They
make assumptions about the wider population and
the characteristics of that wider population, i.e. the