The literature on item bias, i.e., the question of whether some items in tests favor one cultural group over another cultural group due to irrelevant factors, is reviewed and evaluated. All known references through 1981 are described including a large number of unpublished reports. Each method is described and the criticisms that have appeared in…

Tips on constructing survey instruments and examples of alternative formats for questionnaire items are provided in this paper. The 18 tips cover such areas as instructions for respondents, wording of questionnaire items, grouping of items, handling of difficult or sensitive questions, fixed-response items, open-ended questions, and questionnaire…

The methods and approaches for estimating the operating characteristics of the discrete item responses without assuming any mathematical form have been developed and expanded. It has been made possible that, even if the test information function of a given test is not constant for the interval of ability of interest, it is used as the Old Test.…

The central idea in building and maintaining an item bank is to calibrate all the items onto a "common variable." The arithmetic involved in the calibration process is presented. It is recommended that an analysis of fit be done in every application to verify that the estimates of item difficulties are in fact sample-free. These…

The problem engendered by the Matching Familiar Figures (MFF) Test is one of instrument integrity (II). II is delimited by validity, reliability, and utility of MFF as a measure of the reflective-impulsive construct. Validity, reliability and utility of construct assessment may be improved by utilizing: (1) a prototypic scoring model that will…

The psychometric properties of the Mainstreaming Planning Inventory, a 40-item composite scale for measuring attitudes toward mainstreaming in education, were examined. Using the responses of 90 faculty in a college of education, of 261 undergraduate students in that college, and of 40 graduate students in education, alpha coefficient and factor…

As alternatives to the objectives-based approach to specifying content domains for test construction purposes, six strategies are proposed: (1) amplified objectives; (2) Instructional Objectives Exchange (IOX) test specifications; (3) item transformations; (4) item forms; (5) algorithms; and (6) mapping sentences. Their effectiveness is assessed…

Sample test questions related to a variety of safety items comprise this publication. It is a supplement to a series on shop safety information produced by the New York State Education Department. The multiple choice test items are intended as a resource for use in developing teacher-made tests, based on course content. (CTM)

The following information on the development of the 1978 Metropolitan Achievement Tests (MAT), fifth edition, is given; the purpose and importance of item analysis, steps preceding item tryout, characteristics of the sample population, and data obtained. Item analysis allows elimination of undesirable items, adjustment of the difficulty level of…

This volume provides technical information and data on the knowledge, skills, and attitudes of American young adults, aged 17 and 26-35 years old. The three subjects chosen for this eighth year assessment were health: (section 1), energy (section 2), and reading (section 3). (Science exercises were also administered in the survey, and will…

A well developed multiple choice test is a reliable instrument for grading students and evaluating teacher presentation. There are three steps in the development of a valid multiple choice examination: 1) design or "blueprinting," 2) item construction, and 3) item analysis and evaluation. "Blueprinting" is the identification of the types of…

A content analysis was performed on 3,134 questions from 62 examinations given in the mass communications and society courses in colleges throughout the United States. The questions were analyzed and categorized on the basis of three general groups: geographical reference, media reference, and topic reference. The findings revealed the following:…

A battery of 16 newly devised tests intended as measures of "fluid" intelligence were administered, together with a number of other measures, and factor analyzed separately for a sample of Black children and a sample of White children. The results were judged to confirm the construct of fluid intelligence. (CTM)

Effects that item order and basal and ceiling rules have on test means, variances, and internal consistency estimates for the Peabody Individual Achievement Test mathematics and reading recognition subtests were examined. Items on the math and reading recognition subtests were significantly easier or harder than test placements indicated. (Author)

Two techniques for writing achievement test items to accompany instructional materials are contrasted: writing items from statements of instructional objectives, and writing items from semi-automated rules for transforming instructional statements. Both systems resulted in about the same number of faulty items. (Author/JKS)