STEPS IN TEST CONSTRUCTION

Presented by,
PRIYA PARVATHI.P
 General steps for test construction

• Before real work of test construction, certain broad decisions

are taken by the investigator.

• These preliminary decisions have far- reaching consequences.

In the preliminary stage test constructor:

• Outlines major objectives of the test in general terms.

• Specifies the population intended to testing.

• Indicates the possible conditions under which the test can be

used.

• Important uses of the test.

Steps following the preliminary stage:

1. Planning of the test

2. Writing items of the test

3. Preliminary administration/ experimental try- out of the test

4. Reliability of the final test

5. Validity of the final test

6. Preparation of norms for the final test

7. Preparation of manual and reproduction of the test

 PLANNING

• First step- careful planning.

• Specifies the broad and specific objectives of the test in clear

terms.

• Decides upon :

1. The nature of the content or items to be included.

2. Type of instructions to be included

3. Method of sampling
5. Detailed arrangement for the preliminary administration and
the final administration.

6. Probable length and time limit for the completion of the test.

7. Probable statistical methods to be adopted.

Planning also includes the total number of reproductions of the

test to be made and the preparation of the manual
 WRITING DOWN THE ITEMS

• Second step- preparation of the items.

• Item- A single question or task that is not often broken down

into any smaller units.

• Item writing- starts with planning- essentially a creative art.

• No set rules to guide and guarantee writing of good items.

• Depends upon writer’s intuition, imagination, experience,

practice and ingenuity.
• Some essential prerequisites to be met to write good and
appropriate items are:
1. Writer must have a thorough knowledge and complete mastery
of the subject- matter (ie. fully acquainted with al facts,
principles, misconceptions, fallacies of that particular subject).
2. Writer must be fully aware of those persons for whom the test is
meant (intelligence level of the participant, difficulty level of the
items, and avoid irrelevant clues to the correct responses).
3. Writer must be familiar with different types of items along with
the advantages and disadvantages (characteristics of good items
and common probable errors in writing items).
4. Writer must have large vocabulary ( convey the meaning of
items in the simplest possible languages to avoid confusion).

5. After writing, items should be submitted to a group of subject

expert for their criticisms and suggestions which has to be
duly modified.

• Writer must cultivate rich source of ideas for items (ideas are
not produced automatically; ideas require certain factors or
stimuli).

• Items should be arranged in the increasing order of difficulty.

 PRELIMINARY ADMINISTRATION/
EXPERIMENTAL TRY- OUT
• Purposes of experimental try- out in psychological and
educational testing (Conrad, 1951):
1. Finding out the major weaknesses, omissions, ambiguities and
inadequacies of items (identify ambiguous and indeterminate
items, non- functioning distractors in multiple- choice items,
difficulty of items).
2. Determining the difficulty values of each item helping to
select the items so as for even and proper distribution in the
final form.
3. Determining the validity of each individual item (determine discriminatory
power- successful discrimination between those possessing the trait in larger
amount and those with the least amount of the same traits).
4. Determining a reasonable time limit for the test.
5. Determining appropriate length of the test (no. of items included in the final
form).
6. Determining the intercorrelations of items to avoid overlapping.
7. Identifying weakness and vagueness in directions or instructions of the test as
well as in the fore- exercises or sample questions of the test.
• 3 preliminary administration of tests to achieve the aims of
experimental try- out are:

1. Detect gross defects, ambiguities, and omissions in items and

instructions(n is not less than 100).

2. Provide data for item- analysis (n should be around 400)

3. Detect minor defects which the 2 preceding administrations

failed to detect ( dress rehearsal- final check on the
administration procedure, time and the time limit).
• After the final trial administration is over, no material change
is ordinarily to be induced in the test.

• Attempt of Conrad though widely appreciated, it has not been

followed as a fixed rule.

• Depending upon the nature and purpose of the test,, the

number of preliminary administrations and number of
examinees for each administration varies widely.
THANK YOU
Last 3 Steps in the Test
Constructions

DEVEENA ANTO
 Reliability of the test
• When on the basis of the experimental or
empirical try out the test is finally composed
of the selected items, the final test is again
administered on a fresh sample in order to
compute the reliability coefficient.
• The size of the sample should not be less than
100.
• It is the self-correlation test
• It indicates the consistency of the scores in the
test.
• 3 common ways of calculating reliability
coefficient – test-retest method, split-half
method, & equivalent-form method.
• Besides these, the Kuder Richardson formulas
& the Rulan formula are also used.
 Validity of the Test
• Refer to what the test measures & how well it
measures.
• If a test measures a trait that it intends to
measure well , we say that the test is valid one.
• After estimating the reliability coefficient of the
test, the test constructor validates the test
against some outside independent criteria by
comparing the test with the criteria. Thus, validity
may also be defined as the correlation of the test
with some outside independent criteria.
• Validity should be computed from the data
obtained from the samples other than those
used in item analysis. This procedure is known
as cross-validation.
• 3 main types- content V, construct V, &
criterion-related V.
• The usual statistical techniques employed in
computing validity coefficient are Pearsonian
r, biserial r, pointbiserial r chi square, phi-
coefficient, etc.
• The abac tables have also been prepared by
Flanagan for directly reading the values of
biserial r, pointbiserial r & phi-coefficient
when the proportions of those passing an
item in the lower group & upper group are
known.
 Norms of the Test
• Constructor also prepares norms of the test.
• Norms-the average performance or score of a
large sample representative of a specified
population.
• Norms are prepared to meaningfully interpret the
scores obtained on the test for. The obtained
scores on the test themselves convey no meaning
regarding the ability or a trait being measured.
But when these are compared with the norms, a
meaningful inference can immediately be drawn.
• Types- the age, the grade, the percentile, &
the standard score norms.
• All these types are not suited to all types of
tests.
• Keeping the purpose & type of the test, the
test constructor develops a suitable norm for
the test.
• The preliminary concern in developing norms
are that the sample must be representative of
the true population; it must randomly
selected; & it should preferably represent a
cross section of the population.
Preparation of Manual & Reproduction
of the Test
• Last step in test construction.
• In the manual the test constructor reports the
psychometric properties of the test
administration, the scoring the methods &
time limits, if any, of the test.
• It also includes instructions as well as the
details of arrangement of materials, ie
whether the items have been arranged in
random order or in any other order.
• It should yield information about the
standardization sample, reliability, validity,
scoring as well as practical considerations.
• The test constructor, after seeing the
importance & requirements of the test, finally
orders for printing of the test & the manual.