Testing and measurement : a user-friendly guide / Sharon E. Robinson Kurpius and Mary E. Stafford

Includes bibliographical references and index.

What is a number? Is a rose always a rose? -- Frequencies : one potato, two potato, three potato, four -- The distribution of test scores - the perfect body? -- Central tendencies and dispersion - coming together or growing apart -- Standardized scores - do you measure up? -- Norms and criterion scores - keeping up with the Joneses or not -- Error scores - the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? -- Building a strong test - one the Big Bad Wolf can't blow down -- Reliability - the same yesterday, today and tomorrow -- Validity - what you see is not always what you get -- The perils and pitfalls of testing - being ethical

Written with Bandura's social learning theory in mind, Testing and Measurement: A User-Friendly Guide allows students to master testing and measurement through a three-stage learning process: presentation of information, modeling, and practice with direct feedback. Authors Sharon E. Robinson Kurpius and Mary E. Stafford guide students through the essential components of measurement, starting with measurement scales and ending with reliability and validity. Taking the attitude that everyone can learn testing and measurement concepts, the authors make this learning process fun and non-threatening. Each chapter presents the concepts in small, accessible bits, accompanied by models that are both numerical and pictorial." "Testing and Measurement is designed for undergraduate and graduate courses on testing and measurement in education, sociology, social welfare, psychology, and counseling. The book is an invaluable supplement to the classic, often overwhelmingly comprehensive, textbooks currently available for these courses.