Educational Instruments

EDUCATIONAL INSTRUMENTS

INSTRUMENTS…

Instruments: Collections of items or questions intended to measure, collectively (total score) levels of theoretical variables (constructs) not easily observable directly.

THE TYPES OF INSTRUMENTS…

2. Affective Instruments3. Projective Instruments

1. Cognitive Instruments

1. COGNITIVE INSTRUMENTS...

Measure an individual’s attainment in academic areas typically used to diagnose strengths and weaknesses

TYPES OF COGNITIVE INSTRUMENTS...

1. Achievement tests

…provide information about how well the test takers have learned what they have been taught in school

…achievement is determined by comparing it to the normnorm, the performance of a national group of similar students who have taken the same test

2. Aptitude tests

…measure the intellect and abilities not normally taught and often are used to predict future performance

…typically provide an overall score, a verbal score, and a quantitative score

2. AFFECTIVE INSTRUMENTS...

Measure characteristics of individuals along a number of dimensions and to assess feelings, values, and attitudes toward self, others, and a variety of other activities, institutions, and situations

TYPES OF AFFECTIVE INSTRUMENTS...

1. attitude scales…self-reports of an individual’s beliefs, perceptions, or

feelings about self, others, and a variety of activities, institutions, and situations

…frequently use Likert, semantic differential, Thurstone , or Guttman scales

2. values tests

…measure the relative strength of an individual’s valuing of theoretical, economic, aesthetic, social, political, and religious values

3. Personality inventories

…an individual’s self-report measuring how behaviors characteristic of defined personality traits describe that individual

3. PROJECTIVE INSTRUMENTS...

Measure a respondent’s feelings or thoughts to an ambiguous stimulus

PRIMARY TYPE OF PROJECTIVE TEST...

1. Associational tests

…participants react to a stimulus such as a picture, inkblot or word onto which they project a description

STEPS IN CONSTRUCTING AN INSTRUMENT1) Determine clearly what it is you want to measure.2) Generate a pool of possible items (about 60 for a 20 item

instrument).3) Decide on question format (yes/no, strongly agree, agree, etc)4) Decide how to score the instrument (e.g. on an optimism

scale, all responses that indicate optimism should get higher scores, so that the more optimistic you are, the higher your total score).

5) Administer the instrument to a pilot sample of people: 100 - 300.

6) Scale purification: Evaluate each item using the pilot data

RULES GOVERNING THE SELECTION INSTRUMENTS...

2. The highest reliabilityreliability

1. The highest validityvalidity

3. The greatest ease of administration, scoring, and interpretation

4. Test takers’ lack of familiarity with instrument5. Avoids potentially controversial matters

SELECTING AN INSTRUMENT...

2. Identify and locate appropriate instruments

1. Determine precisely the type of instrument needed

3. Compare and analyze instruments4. Select best instrument

ADMINISTERING THE INSTRUMENT...

2. Ensure ideal testing environment1. Make arrangements in advance

3. Be prepared for all probable contingencies

TWO ISSUES IN USING INSTRUMENTS...

2. ReliabilityReliability: the degree to which the instrument consistently measures what it purports to measure

1. ValidityValidity: the degree to which the instrument measures what it purports to measure

TERMS ASSOCIATED WITH INSTRUMENTS1. DATA2. CONSTRUCTS3. VARIABLE4. RAW SCORES5. MEASUREMENT SCALES

DataData……the pieces of information researchers

collect through instruments to examine a topic or hypothesis

ConstructsConstructs……abstractions of behavioral factors

that cannot be observed directly and which researchers invent to explain behavior

VariableVariable……a construct that can take on two or

more values or scores

Raw scoresRaw scores……the number of items an individual

scored on an instrument

Measurement scalesMeasurement scales……the representation of variables so

that they can be quantified

MEASUREMENT SCALES...

Nominal variables “categorical”: classifies persons or objects into two or more categories

QualitativeQualitative (categorical)

MEASUREMENT SCALES...QuantitativeQuantitative ( (continuous) 1. Ordinal variables“order”: classifies persons or objects and ranks them in terms of the degree to which those persons or objects possess a characteristic of interest2. Interval variablesranks, orders, and classifies persons or objects according to equal differences with no true zero point3. Ratio variablesranks, orders, classifies persons or objects according to equal differences with a true zero point