1st Edition

Theory of Mental Tests

By Harold Gulliksen Copyright 1987
    508 Pages
    by Routledge

    508 Pages
    by Routledge

    This classic volume outlines, for both students and professionals, the mathematical theories and equations that are necessary for evaluating a test and for quantifying its characteristics. The author utilizes formulas that evaluate both the reliability and the validity of tests. He also provides the means for evaluating the reliability and validity of total test scores and individual item analysis. The work remains one of the only books on classical test theory to discuss applications, "true score" theory, the effect of test length on reliability and validity, and the effects of univariate and multivariate selection on validity.

    1. INTRODUCTION, 2. BASIC EQUATIONS DERIVED FROM A DEFINITION OF RANDOM ERROR, 3. FUNDAMENTAL EQUATIONS DERIVED FROM A DEFINITION OF TRUE SCORE, 4. ERRORS OF MEASUREMENT, SUBSTITUTION, AND PREDICTION, 5. VARIOUS INTERPRETATIONS OF THE ERROR OF MEASUREMENT, 6. EFFECT OF DOUBLING TEST LENGTH ON OTHER TEST PARAMETERS, 7. EFFECT OF TEST ON MEAN AND (GENERAL CASE), 8. EFFECT OF TEST LENGTH ON RELIABILITY (GENERAL CASE), 9. EFFECT OF TEST LENGTH ON VALIDITY (GENERAL CASE), 10. EFFECT OF GROUP HETEROGENEITY ON TEST RELIABILITY, 11. EFFECT OF GROUP HETEROGENEITY ON VALIDITY (BIVARIATE CASE), 12. CORRECTION FOR UNIVARIATE SELECTION IN THE THREE-VARIABLE CASE, 13. CORRECTION FOR MULTIVARIATE SELECTION IN THE GENERAL CASE, 14. A STATISTICAL CRITERION FOR PARALLEL TESTS, 15. EXPERIMENTAL METHODS OF OBTAINING TEST RELIABILITY, 16. RELIABILITY ESTIMATED FROM ITEM HOMOGENEITY, 17. SPEED VERSUS POWER TESTS, 18. METHODS OF SCORING TESTS, 19. METHODS OF STANDARDIZING AND EQUATING TEST SCORES, 20. PROBLEMS OF WEIGHTING AND DIFFERENTIAL PREDICTION, BIBLIOGRAPHY, APPENDIX A. EQUATIONS FROM ALGEBRA, ANALYTICAL GEOMETRY, AND STATISTICS, USED IN TEST THEORY, APPENDIX B. TABLE OF ORDINATES AND AREAS OF THE NORMAL CURVE, APPENDIX C. SAMPLE EXAMINATION QUESTIONS IN STATISTICS FOR USE AS A REVIEW EXAMINATION AT THE BEGINNING OF THE COURSE IN TEST THEORY, APPENDIX D. SAMPLE EXAMINATION ITEMS IN TEST THEORY, ANSWERS TO PROBLEMS, AUTHOR INDEX, TOPIC INDEX

    Biography

    Harold Gulliksen