Research Guides: Education: Tests & Measures

Reference Resources

The SAGE Encyclopedia of Educational Research, Measurement, and Evaluation (2018)
Covers the basics of traditional theories and methods, as well as important sociopolitical issues and trends influencing the future of that research and practice.

Some key terms in testing and measurement: bias, checklist, scaling, instrument, battery, survey, coding, item, items, inventory, inventories, scoring, reliability, validity, weighting, etc.

Important Terminology

Published tests and measures are available directly from commercial publishers for a fee and typically are accessible only to qualified/certified professionals.
Unpublished tests and measures are not sold through a publisher and sometimes are available in journal articles, dissertations, other types of research-based literature, or online.

Finding Tests

Some databases index tests in some way. These databases can provide information about tests, including:

Where a test appears or was used in a journal article or research study;
Review information for a given test, including reliability and validity of the test;
Where to purchase a published test.

PsycTests This link opens in a new window
Summaries of psychological tests and measures, as well as their development and administration. Most contain the actual test or test items like psychological assessments, tests, measures, questionnaires, scales, and surveys.

Tests & measurement

Tests are NOT purchased by UC Irvine. Many tests are copyrighted, and permission from the copyright holder may be needed before administering these tests.

Tests in Print*
Comprehensive bibliography to known commercially available tests currently in print in the English. Provides test purpose, test publisher, in-print status, price, test acronym, intended test population. Provides guide to MMY reviews of tests.
ETS Test Collection
Educational Testing Service (ETS) achievement tests and measurement devices database. Contains information for acquiring and/or purchasing tests in education. Some are standardized tests – many are research instruments, some standardized on very small populations.
CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing & Allied Health Literature) Complete with full text*
Search for the Publication Type "Research Instrument".
Test Finder
Database of psychological tests, instruments, rating scales, and measures.
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Many tests are copyrighted, and permission from the copyright holder may be needed before administering these tests.
Tests and Measures in the Social Sciences
Created and maintained by Helen Hough from University of Texas. Searching via the RefWorks/RefShare version will produce better results. This is an index of tests and test information.
Dissertations & theses full text*
Some dissertations will have appended complete surveys, tests or other measures depending on the research conducted. The reliabilty and validity of these tests is not assured.
Research in Psychology: Methods and Design
Location: Langson Library. Call number: BF76.5 .G64 2013
Tests : a comprehensive reference for assessments in psychology, education, and business
Location: Langson Library. Call number: BF176 .T43 2008
Measures for clinical practice : a sourcebook
Includes purpose, description of instruments, scoring, instructions, items for some tests. Will also include norms, reliability, and validity. Location: Langson Library. Call number: BF176 .C66 2000.
Handbook of family measurement techniques
Vols. 1 and 2 have abstracts that include variables measured, instrument description, sample items and reference to literature. Vol. 3 has complete instruments with items and scoring instructions. Location: Langson Library Reference. Call number: HQ728 .H267 2001 vols. 1-3
Handbook of sexuality-related measures
Information on over 200 instruments that come from the fields of psychology, medicine, and sociology. Location: Langson Library. Call number: HQ60 .H36 1998.
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Has many complete sets of items and instructions, descriptions, timing, scoring, reliability and validity, and references.
Directory of unpublished experimental mental measures
Information about unpublished tests and related uses of tests not covered in Mental Measurements Yearbook. Used for deciding if a particular test is applicable to a topic. Includes format,validity, reliability, etc. Each volume covers multiple years. Published by APA. Location: Langson Library. Call number: BF 431.G625
Measures for Clinical Practice and Research
Useful for class assignments. This has the full text of some tests. Location: Science Library Bar. Call number: WM 145 F529m 2007

Journals

Journal of Educational Measurement
JEM (quarterly) publishes original measurement research and reports of applications of measurement in an educational context. Topics addressed in JEM reflect contributions to educational measurement that are related to the purposes of NCME. JEM is a vehicle for sharing improvements and innovations in educational measurement.
Studies in Educational Evaluation
Publishes original reports of evaluation studies.
Educational and Psychological Measurement
Publishes referred scholarly work from all academic disciplines interested in the study of measurement theory, problems, and issues. Theoretical articles address new developments and techniques, and applied articles deal strictly with innovation applications.