ABSTRACT
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 a brief outline of a small number of key issues to do with tests and testing. This includes:
what are we testing?OO parametric and non-parametric testsOO norm-referenced, criterion-referenced and domain-OO referenced tests commercially produced tests and researcher-OO produced tests constructing a testOO software for preparation of a testOO devising a pre-test and post-testOO ethical issues in testingOO computerized adaptive testingOO
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. 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, OO attitude, personality, intelligence, social adjustment, etc.)? Are we dealing with parametric or non-parametric OO tests? Are they norm-referenced or criterion-referenced?OO Are they available commercially for researchers to OO use or will researchers have to develop homeproduced tests? Do the test scores derive from a pre-test and post-OO test in the experimental method?
