ABSTRACT
In this chapter we look in detail at initial item design and writing test specifications in the test design cycle (Figure 4.1). Test specifications are the most detailed level of test architecture. They are also sometimes called test ‘blueprints’ (Alderson, Clapham and Wall, 1995: 9). The analogy is once again with architecture and engineering. Specifications are the design documents that show us how to construct a building, a machine or a test.
