Test Development Proposal: Step Three
Throughout the course, students will conduct research on instruments that are currently used to measure a particular construct, develop a new instrument to measure that construct, administer the instrument to participants, and report on data arising from those administrations. Students are free to select any construct of their interest, such as some ability, a personality construct, or any kind of attitude or belief.
Over the six-week course, students will select a construct of interest (such as depression, anxiety, job satisfaction, etc.), conduct research on other popular instruments used to measure the same or similar construct, develop a 12-15 item instrument, administer the instrument to three to five participants, discuss the methods used to administer the instrument, provide a strengths and weaknesses/limitation section regarding the development of the instrument, and discuss ways to increase the reliability and validity of the instrument.
This assignment is the third step toward completing your Test Development Proposal in Week 6. Develop a 12-15 item test/instrument on the construct of interest you selected during Step One and Step Two (e.g. depression, anxiety, self-esteem, marital satisfaction, social persuasion, job satisfaction, etc.). Construct the items and response choices for the instrument (can either be in multiple choice, true/false, rating scale, and/or open ended question format). Include an introduction to the instrument (e.g. what the test is proposing to measure and why) and explicit instructions on how the instrument should be completed by the participants. Use the Diem (2002), Derrington (2009), and Siebert (2002) websites to assist you in your item and test construction. Information gathered from sources must be appropriately cited on the References page, following APA guidelines. Your test submission should include a title page and a References page (if sources were used).
Although not required for this week’s written assignment, you will need to administer your instrument to three to five people (e.g., family members, friends, etc.) before the beginning of Week 6. Please ensure that each participant reviews the consent form (which should include the instructor’s information and student’s name) provided in the Assignment folder for this week (See
Participant Consent Form
). Since this proposal is completely anonymous, you will not be required to return the consent forms, but will receive credit during Week 6 for acknowledging in the final proposal that you presented this to your participants. If you choose to return the consent forms, submit it as a separate attachment rather than in the body of your assignment.