PsyQuesta
Learn Psychology with Afa
PSYCHOLOGICAL
MEASUREMENT
AND TESTING
B.Sc Psychology
SEMESTER -3
PsyQuesta
Learn Psychology with Afa
MODULE- 1
INTRODUCTION TO MEASUREMENT AND SCALING TECHNIQUES
A. DEFINITION OF MEASUREMENT
 “Assignments of numerals according to rules.” - Tyler
 “Measurement consists of rules for assigning numbers to object in such a way
as to represent quantities of attributes.” - Nunnally
Measurement is the assignment of scores of individuals so that the scores
represent some characteristics of the individuals. Psychological measurement can
be achieved in a wide variety of ways, including self- report, behavioural and
physiological measures.
B. SCALES OF MEASUREMENT
 It is the way that numbers are assigned determine scale of measurement. Each
scale of measurement represents a particular property or set of properties of
the abstract number system.
C. LEVELS OF MEASUREMENTS
1. Nominal scale
 Lowest level of measurement
 Numbers are used to name, identify or classify persons, objects or groups
 Nominal scales are really not scales and their only purpose is to name objects
 Here, members of any two groups are never equivalent but all members of any
one group are always equivalent.
 Mathematical operations like addition, subtraction, multiplication and
division are not possible
 Admissible statistical operations: counting or frequency, percentage,
proportion, mode and coefficient of contingency.
 Drawback: this scale is most elementary and simple
2. Ordinal scale
 Second level of measurement where there is property of magnitude but not of
equal interval or an absolute zero.
 Numbers denote the rank order of the objects or individuals. Here numbers
are arranged from highest to lowest or lowest to highest.
 This measure reflects which person is larger or smaller, heavier or lighter,
brighter or duller etc.
PsyQuesta
Learn Psychology with Afa
 E.g., socioeconomic status of people. Every member of upper class is higher in
social prestige than every member of middle or lower classes. Likewise, every
member of middle class is higher in social prestige than that of lower class.
 Permissible statistical operations: median, percentile, rank correlation
coefficient + all those are permissible for nominal scale.
 Drawback: ordinal measures are not absolute quantities nor do they convey
that the distance between the different rank values are equal. This is because
they are not equal interval measurements nor do they incorporate absolute
zero. there is no way to ascertain whether a person has any of the
characteristics being measured.
3. Interval scale
 Third level of measurement
 Includes all the characteristics of nominal and ordinal scale
 The salient feature of this scale that numerically equal distances in the scale
indicate equal distances in the properties of the objects being measured.
 Or we can say the unit of measurement is constant and equal
 This scale does not have an absolute zero rather than the zero point which is
arbitrary, i.e., the zero point does not tell the real absence of the property
being measured.
 Permissible statistical operations: AM (arithmetic mean), SD (standard
deviation), Pearson R, t-test, F-test and other statistics based upon them.
 Drawback: coefficient of variation cannot be applied.
4. Ratio scale
 Highest level of measurement
 Has all the properties of nominal, ordinal and interval scales plus absolute
zero point
 Salient feature of this scale: ratio of any two numbers is independent of the
unit of measurement
 Anything that can be measured from absolute zero can be measured within a
ratio scale. E.g., measures of high, weight, length, width etc.
 Here, the zero point is not arbitrary, but true.
 All statistical operations including coefficient of variation can be used.
 In social sciences like psychology and sociology, we frequently encounter with
interval measurement because most of the data obtained from measurement
are such that we assume an equal unit of measurement and arbitrary zero
point.
PsyQuesta
Learn Psychology with Afa
D. PROPERTIES OF LEVELS OF MEASUREMENT
1. Identity
Assignment of numbers to respondent’s response and these numbers are just for the
sake of identification. These numbers can’t be used for mathematical operations.
E.g., roll number of students in a class.
2. Magnitude
Property of “moreness”. Any scale is said to have the property of magnitude if it can
be said that a particular instance of the attributes represents more, less or equal
amounts of the given quantity that does another instance. E.g., height and weight of
students in a class.
3. Equal interval
A scale has the property of equal interval if the difference between any two points at
any place on the scale has the same meaning as the difference between two other
points that differ by the same number of scale units.
E.g., difference between 4kg and 6kg on a weight measuring scale represent the
same quantity as the difference between 14 kg and 16 kg, i.e., exactly 2 kg.
Psychological tests rarely have the property of equal interval. For e.g., the difference
between IQ 50 & 60 does not mean the difference between IQ 110 & 120, although
each of these differ by 10 points.
4. Absolute zero
An absolute zero is said to exist when nothing of the property being measured exist
(temperature on 0 is not absolute zero as it still has some effect and we can’t say no
temperature). It is very difficult or impossible for a psychological measurement to
define zero.
PsyQuesta
Learn Psychology with Afa
DISTINCTION BETWEEN PSYCHOLOGICAL MEASUREMENT AND
PHYSICAL MEASUREMENT.
PHYSICAL
MEASUREMENT
PSYCHOLOGICAL
MEASUREMENT
1. Unit of measurement
is fixedand constant
throughout the
measurement
1. Unit of measurement not fixed
and varies throughout the
measurement
2. There is a true zero point
2. There is an arbitrary zero point
3. More accurate and
predictable
3. Less accurate and predicable
4. Measurement is direct
5. Entire quantity can be
measured
4. Measurement is indirect
5. Entire quantity cannot be measure
PsyQuesta
Learn Psychology with Afa
 Ps ycho logic al (or qualitative) measurement comprises the measurement of
mental processes, traits, habits, tendencies and likes of an individual.
 Physical (or quantitative) measurement comprises the measurement of
objects,height, weight, length etc. which are physically present in the world
E. PROBLEMS IN PSYCHOLOGICAL MEASUREMENT
1. Indirectness of measurement
Most psychological and educational measurement are indirect. This is because
psychological and educational variables cannot be observed and studied directly.
E.g., intelligence of student cannot be seen, touched or experienced.
2. Incompleteness of measurement
Psychological measures are generally incomplete and therefore measurement of
psychological variables are also incomplete. E.g., when an investigating is assessing
the attitude towards coeducation, he is required to construct a scale in which a
number of samples of behaviour expressing such an attitude need to be incorporated.
This number has no limit. Any attempt, to measure such an attitude would be partial
and incomplete.
3. Relativity in measurement
Psychological measurements are relative. This can be explained with an example:
suppose Mohan, a student of class X was given arithmetical knowledge and English
language test. Let us further suppose he scored 95% in English language but could
not answer even a single item on the arithmetic test. We cannot say Mohan is a
brilliant student on the basis English test result nor we can say he is dull on the basis
of arithmetic test result.
4. Errors in measurement
Measurement in physical sciences as well as behavioural sciences is most of the time
not pure. It contains some uncontrolled factors, which produce some gross errors.
Sources of errors in measurement are given below.
Sources of errors in measurement:
1) Respondent: - One of important sources of errors is the respondent himself.
Sometimes, the respondent is found reluctant to express his/her true feelings or it
PsyQuesta
Learn Psychology with Afa
may be that sometimes due to lack of knowledge the person may not express himself
clearly. In either case, the measurement loses its accuracy
2) Measurer: -Sometimes the behaviour, style and looks of the person who is
measuring the phenomena, distort the process of measurement. His behaviour, style
and looks may encourage or discourage certain types of replies from the respondent
that affects the accuracy of the measurement.
3) Situation: - Situational factors also contribute to errors in measurement. Any
situation that puts unnecessary strain on the respondent, tends to introduce errors
in measurement.
4) Test instruments: -Poor psychometric qualities of the test and defective
measuring instrument contribute to errors in measurement.
F. CONCEPTS OF PSYCHOPHYSICS
Psychophysics is defined as the scientific study of relationship between stimuli and
sensations & perceptions evoked by these stimuli.
It was introduced by Gustav Theoder Fechner in 1860’s.
1. Psychophysical methods: - A set of procedures that have developed to
investigate sensory thresholds
2. Absolute threshold: - Absolute threshold is the lowest level of stimulus (light,
sound, touch etc.) which an organism can detect at least 50% of the time. It is also
known as absolute limen (AL), detection threshold, sensation threshold etc.
3. Difference threshold: - Difference threshold is the smallest amount of change
in physical stimulus necessary for an individual to notice a difference in the intensity
of the stimulus. It is also called difference limen (DL), just noticeable difference
(JND) etc.
4. Subliminal perception: -Subliminal perception occurs when a stimulus is too
weak to be perceived yet a person is influenced by it. A signal detected 49% of the
time is would be subliminal.
5. Weber’s law
 Developed by EH Weber.
 It is the first systematic attempt to formulate a principle which governed the
relationship between psychological experience and physical stimulus.
 There are two types of stimuli:
 Standard stimulus: fixed, no change in intensity or properties
 Comparable stimulus: varies, intensity or properties can be altered “When the
magnitude of standard stimulus is increased, the size of change needed for
PsyQuesta
Learn Psychology with Afa
discrimination between the standard and comparable stimulus (or JND) is also
increased.” E.g., candles in a room
Equation: ∆R = K where,
R
∆R = difference threshold OR just noticeable difference (JND)
R = standard stimulus
K = constant
 Constant K in Weber’s Law is always a fraction known as Weber’s fraction or
proportion. It indicates the proportion by which the standard stimulus must be
increased in order to produce just noticeable difference (JND).
 Weber’s law is regarded as a good measure of the overall sensitivity in different
sense modalities.
 Drawback: precision is lost when the standard stimulus reaches the extremes, i.e.,
when the standard stimulus become either very weak or very strong, the precision
is lost to a great extent.
6. Fechner’s law
 Developed by Gustav Theodor Fechner
 Fechner’s law is an improvement up on Weber’s Law
 Fechner’s law states that stimulus value and resulting psychological sensations
have a logarithmic relationship i.e., when the stimulus value increase in
geometrical progression, the psychological sensations increase in arithmetical
progression.
 Equation: R= K log S
where,
R=magnitude of sensation of response
K=Weber’s constant
S=magnitude of stimulus value
 In other words, the law states that the magnitude of sensation (or response)
varies directly with the logarithm of the stimulus value
 Increasement by the process of multiplication is termed as geometrical
progression and increasement by the process of addition is called arithmetic
progression.
 E.g., perceived loudness or brightness is proportional to logarithm of the
actual intensity measured with an accurate non-human instrument.
H.PSYCHOPHYSICAL & PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALING METHODS
Scaling methods are methods through which stimuli or individuals are sorted
according to some known and specified characteristics or attributes. Depending
upon the classes of stimuli, there are two types of scaling methods: psychophysical
and psychological scaling method
Psychophysical scaling methods
In this method, the stimuli presented have a physical referent, i.e., it can be
PsyQuesta
Learn Psychology with Afa
described by a physical scale. E.g., grams, decibels, meter, centimetre etc… The
purpose of the psychophysical scaling method is to discover some definite
quantitative relationship subjective measurement of stimuli (as judged by the
subject) and the objective measurement by physical scales.
E.g., Method of average error (or method of adjustment), method of minimal
changes (or method of limits), method of constant stimuli (or method of right and
wrong cases) etc…
Psychological scaling methods:
In psychological scaling methods, stimuli possess psychological attributes, which
lack an appropriate physical referent. According to Torgerson, “psychological scaling
methods are procedures for constructing scales for the measurement of
psychological attributes”.
For measuring psychological attributes like sense of humour, extend of honesty,
aggressiveness, pleasantness and so on, there are no physical scales. Therefore, these
attributes are best measured by the psychological scales.
1. Method of average error
2. Method of minimal changes
3. Method of constant stimuli
4. Method of pair comparison
5. Method of rank order
Method Of Average Error
 Also known as method of adjustment, method of reproduction or method of
equivalent stimuli
 Introduced by Gustav Fechner
 Subject is provided with a Standard Stimulus (St) and Comparable stimulus
(Co) which maybe greater or lesser in intensity than standard stimulus. The
subject is then required to adjust the Comparable stimulus until it appears to
be equivalent to standard stimulus.
 The difference between St and Co defines the error in each judgement.
 A large number of such judgments are obtained and the arithmetic mean of
those judgments are obtained. Hence the name method of average error
 The value thus obtained is the value for Point of Subjective Equality (PSE).
 The difference between St and PSE indicates the presence of the constant error
(CE)
 The purpose of this method is to determine equivalent stimuli by active
adjustment of the Co by the subject in each trial and hence, the method is also
known as “method of equivalent stimuli”.
Method of Minimal Changes
 It is also known as method of limits, method of JND.
 For computing threshold in this method, two modes of presentation are
PsyQuesta
Learn Psychology with Afa
adopted: ascending series, descending series
 For computing differential threshold, the comparable stimulus (Co) is varied
in possible small steps either in ascending or descending series and the subject
is required to say in each step whether the Co is smaller (-), equal (=) or
greater (+) than the St.
 For computing absolute threshold no St is needed, the subject simply reports if
they can detect the change in stimulus presented in ascending and descending
series.
Method of Constant Stimuli
 Also known as method of right and wrong cases, method of frequency
 In this method a number of constant stimuli are presented to the subject
several times in random order.
 To determine absolute threshold, the subject has to report each time whether
he perceives or does not perceive the stimulus presented in random order
Method of Pair Comparison
 Formulated by Thurstone in 1927
 In this method, stimuli are paired and the subject is required to make a
comparative judgement by saying which member of each pair possess most of
the traits being scaled.
 Originally introduced by Cohen in 1894 and was further developed by
Thurstone.
 Extension of method of constant stimuli
 Each stimulus is compared with every other stimulus and therefore each
stimulus serves as a standard stimulus in turn. When the two subject is
presented with the two stimuli they are required to tell which one of them is
the greater. No equality judgement is allowed.
Method of Rank Order
 Also known as “order of merit”.
 Developed from works of Cattell and Spearman.
 In this method, all stimuli are presented simultaneously to the subject who is
requested to rank them in order from high to low
 Rank 1 indicates the best and the higher rank number indicates the inferior
position of the stimulus being recorded
 Most suited when number of stimulus or objects to be ranked is small.
 No problem regarding the sequences of presentation of object arise.
 The scale resulting from this method is known as “ordinal scale”.
 Since objects are assigned higher and lower ranks, there is no way to commit
the error of central tendencies.
PsyQuesta
Learn Psychology with Afa
MODULE- 2
NATURE AND USE OF PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTS
A.DEFINITION OF PSYCHOLOGICAL TEST
 It is a standardized instrument consisting of a series of questions called
items, which assess certain aspects of a person’s individual ability and
describe it in terms of scores and categories.
 A psychological test is essentially an objective and standardized measure of
a sample behaviour.- Anne Anastasia, (1988).
B.HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
 Psychological testing in its modern form originated little 100 years ago in
laboratory studies of sensory discrimination and reaction time.
 It was the English biologist Sir Francis Galton who was primarily
responsible for launching the testing movement.
 A unifying factor in Galton's numerous and varied research activities was his
interest in human heredity.He invented the first battery of tests for
accessing sensory and motor aspects.
 He also set up an anthropometric laboratory at the International Exposition
of 1884 where, by paying three pence, visitors could be measured in certain
physical traits and could take tests of keenness of vision and hearing,
muscular strength, reaction time, and other simple sensorimotor functions
 It was Galton's belief that tests of sensory discrimination could serve as a
means of gauging a person's intellect
 American psychologist James McKeen Cattell Newly established science of
experimental psychology and the still newer testing movement merged in
Cattell's work.
 Kraepelin (1895), was interested primarily in the clinical examination of
psychiatric patients, he prepared a long series of tests to measure what he
regarded as basic factors in the characterization of an individual. The tests
employing chiefly simple arithmetic operations, were designed to measure
practice effects, memory, and susceptibility to fatique and to distraction.
PsyQuesta
Learn Psychology with Afa
 A few years earlier. Oehm (1889), a pupil of Kraepelin, had employed tests
of perception, memory, association, and motor functions in an investigation
on the interrelations of psychological functions.
 Another German psychologist Ebbinghaus (1897), administered tests of
arithmetic computation memory span, and sentence completion to
schoolchildren. The most complex of the three tests, sentence completion,
was the only that showed a clear correspondence with the children's
scholastic achievement
 Like Kraepelin, the Italian psychologist Ferrari and his students were
interested primarily in the use of tests with pathological cases.
 An extensive and varied list of tests was proposed, covering such functions
as memory imagination attention, comprehension Suggestibility, aesthetic
appreciation, and many others. In these tests we can recognize the Brends
that were eventually to lead to the development of the famous Binet
intelligence Scale.
 the examination of the mentally ill around the middle of the 19th century
resulted in the development of numerous early tests.
 In 1865 German physician Hubert Von Grashey developed the antecedent of
memory drum as a means testing brain injured patients, shortly thereafter
German psychiatrist Conrad Riger developed a test battery for brain damage
 Experimental psychology flourished in the late 1800's in Europe and Great
Britain pioneers such as Wundt, Galton, Cattle, Weschler showed that it was
possible to expose the mind to scientific scrutiny and measurement. William
Wundt founded the first psychological laboratory in 1879. Leipzig in
Germany, followed by Galton in Britain.
 Cattle studied the new experimental psychology with both Wundt and
Galton. He invented the term mental test in1819,
 Thorndike studied under Cattle and made monumental contributions in
leaming theory and educational psychology Cattle's other scholar R S
Woodworth authored the very popular and influential book Experimental
Psychology.
 Another scholar of Cattle, EK Strong developed a vocational interest, and
the most influential scholar of Cattle, Weschler studied extensively on
intelligence
 The first modern intelligence test was invented in 1905 by Alfred Binet.
PsyQuesta
Learn Psychology with Afa
Later in 1908, Binet and Simon published the revised version of the 1905
scale In 1911 a third revision of the Binet Simon scale appeared.
 Later Stanford-Binet was published in 1916 by incorporating verbal
and performance tests
 The projective approach in psychology was associated with the word
asutation mated developed by Francis Chalton Rorschach developed a
personality test which is projective in nature known as the Rorschach
inkblottast. In 1935 Morgan Murray developed Thematic Apperception Test
(TAT) to study personality. In 1928 Payme developed a sentence completion
test
C. CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD TEST
I. OBJECTIVITY
A test must be free from subjective element so that there is complete
interpersonal agreement among experts regarding the meaning of the items and
scoring of the test.
 Objectivity here, relates to two aspects of the test - objectivity of the items and
objectivity of the scoring system.
 By objectivity of items is meant that the items should be phrased in such a
manner that they are interpreted in exactly the same way by all those who
take the test.
 For ensuring objectivity of items, item must have uniformity of order of
presentation (i.e, either ascending or descending order)
 By objectivity of scoring is meant that the scoring method of the test should be
a standard one so that complete uniformity can be maintained when the test
is scored by different experts at different times.
II.
RELATABILITY
 A test must also be reliable.
 Relatability refers to the self correction of the test. It shows the extend to
which the result obtained are consistent when the test is administrated once
or more than once on the same sample with a reasonable time gap.
 Consistency in a results is obtained in a single administration is the index of
internal consistency of the test and consistency in results obtained upon
testing and retesting is an index of temporal consistency
 Reliability thus includes both internal consistency as well as temporal
consistency
 For a test to be called sound it must be reliable because reliability indicates the
extend to which the scores obtained in the test are free from such internal
defects of standardization which are likely to produce errors of measurement.
PsyQuesta
Learn Psychology with Afa
III.
VALIDITY
 Validity indicates the extend to which the test measure what it intends to
measure, when compared with some outside independent criterion
 In other words it is the correlation of the test with some outside criterion.
 Generally, validity of the test depend upon the reliability because a test which
yields inconsistent results (poor reliability) is ordinary not expected to
correlate with some outside independent criterion.
IV.
NORMS
 A test must also be guided by certain norms. Norms refer to the average
performance of a representative sample on a given test.
 There are for common types of norms - age norms, grade norms, percentile
norms and standard score norms
 Depending upon the purpose and use, a test constructor prepares any of these
norms for his test.
 Norms help in interpretation of scores, in the absence of norms no meaning
can be added to the score obtained on the test.
V. PRACTICABILITY
 A test must also be practicable from the point of view of the time taken in its
completion, length, scoring etc.
 In other words the test should not be lengthy and scoring method must not be
difficult nor one which can only be done by highly specialized persons.
D. ETHICAL ISSUES IN PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTING
Psychological testing refers to all the possible uses, applications and underlying
important concepts of psychological and educational tests. To maintain its proper
uses ans applications, the American Psychological Association (APA) has officially
adopted a set of standards and rules in 1953 which have undergo continual review
and refinement.The main ethical and moral issues relating to psychological testing
can be described under the five heading
I. ISSUES OF HUMAN RIGHT
Various types of human rights have been recognized in the psychological testing.
Among these rights is, right to not to be tested. In fact, persons who don’t want
to subject themselves to testing, should not and ethically can’t be forced to accept
this.
 Moreover, individuals who finally decide to subject themselves to testing, have
rights to know their test scores, their interpretations as well as basis of any
decisions that affect their lives.
 Likewise, these days other human rights such as the right to who will have the
access to data of psychological testing, and the right to confidentiality of test
results are being popularly discussed.
PsyQuesta
Learn Psychology with Afa
II. ISSUE OF LABELLING
On the basis of psychological testing, a person is given a certain label or diagnosed
ha having a certain psychiatric disorder. This labeling has many harmful effects
 Labeling can stigmatize a person for life and it also affects one’s access to help.
Such a labeling creates additional problems
 It also lower tolerance for stress and make treatment difficult
 In view of these potential negative effect and dangers of labeling a person
should have right to not to be labeled.
III. ISSUES OF INVASION OF PRIVACY
When people responds to items of psychological tests, they have little idea of what
is being revealed by their responses, but somehow they feel that their privacy has
been invaded.
 psychological tests have very limited and pinpointed aim and they can’t invade
the privacy of the person.
 psychologists don’t consider it wrong, evil or detrimental to find out or collect
information about the person, often the subjects privacy is invaded when
information is misused
 Psychologists are legally and ethically bound to maintain confidentiality and
don’t reveal any more information than that is necessary to accomplish the
purpose of testing.
 Ethical code of APA(1992) has included confidentiality, i.e., which obviously
indicates that personal information obtained by psychologists from any
source is communicated to any others only with their consent.
 Exception to this exist only if holding the information pose danger for them,
others .
IV. ISSUES OF DIVIDED LOYALITIES
 Psychologists face conflicts when individuals welfare is is put at odds on hand
and that of the institute that employed psychologist n the other.
 Psychologist is to maintain test security, but also not violate the person’s right
to know the basis of an adverse decision, this decisions when explained to a
person might out go to others with same problems, who rightly can decide to
outsmart the test
V. RESPONSIBILITY OF TEST CONSTRUCTORS AND TEST USERS
 The test constructor is responsible for providing all the necessary information.
 Test constructors must provide a test manual which may clearly state the
appropriate uses of the test, including data relating to reliability, validity and
norms clearly specify about the scoring and administration standards.
 Test users should have adequate knowledge. He should be aware of
psychometric qualities of the test being used as well as the relevant literature
 At any cost, a test user can not claim ignorance.
PsyQuesta
Learn Psychology with Afa
E. FACTORS INFLUENCING TEST ADMINISTRATION
Any influences that are specific to the test situation constitute error variance and
reduce test validity. It is therefore important to identify any test related influences
that may limit or impair the generalizability of test result.
1. EXAMINER INFLUENCES
 Memorizing the exact verbal instructions is essential in most individual test.
some previous formalities with the statement to be read prevents misleading
and hesitation and permits a more natural, informal manner during test
administration.
 In individual test especially in the administration of performance test, such
preparation involves the actual layout of necessary materials to facilitate
subsequent use with a minimum of search or fun bling.
 Materials should generally be placed on a table near the testing table so that
they are within easy reach of the examiner but do not distract the test taker.
 In group testing, all test blanks, answer sheets, special pencils or other
materials needed should be carefully counted, checked and arranged in
advance of the testing day.
 Whether the examiner is a stranger or someone familiar to the test takers
might make a significant difference in scores.
 Children are more susceptible to examiner and situational influences than
are adults.
2. TESTING CONDITION
 The environment for testing should also be appropriate.
 Noise-free room, proper seating arrangement, and adequate light should be
provided to test takers
 It is important to recognize the conditions which might affect the test scores
e.g noise, privacy, traffic in the testing room etc, even the type of answer
sheet employed may affect test scores.
 Many subtle testing conditions affect the performance on ability as well as
on performance tests.
3. TEST TAKER
 The motivation of the test taker to take a test can greatly influence the test
scores.
 Test takers emotion, fatigue, any sort of handicap, mental set etc influence
the test results.
 It is important that the test taker be relaxed and a good rapport should be
established.
 practices designed to enhance rapport serve also to reduce test anxiety.
Procedures tending to dispel surprise and strangeness from the testing
situation and to reassure and encourage the subject should certainly help to
PsyQuesta
Learn Psychology with Afa
lower anxiety
4. TEST ADMINISTRATION PROCESS
 The main purpose of testing is to generalize the results obtained from the
sample to those in non-test situations.
 Any influences that are specific to the test situation constitute error variance
and reduce test validity.
 The testing process itself, examiner related variables, and the
subject/examinee related variables all are potential confounding variables
that need to be looked into, watched, and thoroughly controlled for the
generalizability of the test.
F. CLASSIFICATION OF PSYCHOLOGICAL TEST
I. SPEED AND POWER TEST
SPEED TEST
A pure speed test is one in which
individual differences, differ in speed
of performance
Items are arranged in uniformly low
difficulty; the ability of test takers are
concerned
Speed tests trying to make every
question correct if they have enough
time.
E.g: Clinical Speed and Accuracy Test
POWER TEST
Pure power tests are measure in
performance of how much the testtakers knows or can do
Time is up to the test. The difficulty of
items is steeply graded, and items have
a higher difficulty level also,that cant
be answered.
Power test is one where all test-takers
have enough time to do their best; the
only concern is what they can do.
E.g: Raven’s Progressive Matrices
II. INDIVIDUAL TESTS AND GROUP TESTS
INDIVIDUAL TEST
Administered to only person at a
time
Individual tests require one
examiner and one subject
E.g: Kaufman Scale Tests, KohsBlock Design Test.
Rapport is essential
Examiner’s role is important
GROUP TEST
Taken by a number of people together at
same time
One examiner works with many subject
together
E.g: WAIS, WISC, Standford -Binet
Scales, paper and pencil tests
Easy to administer, and easy to score.
Examiners role is not as important
PsyQuesta
Learn Psychology with Afa
III. VERBAL AND NON VERBAL TEST
VERBAL TESTS
use language to ask questions and
demonstrate answers
PERFORMANCE/ NON VERBAL
Minimal or no use of language in solving
the problems
There is no need for a subject to
manipulate
Subject requires manipulation of
objects, sketching maze, arranging
pictures and completing patterns
Both literate and illiterate can take the
test
Visual spatial tasks are used, non-verbal
responses are yielded
Limited to literate people
Requires subject to give verbal
responses, speaking or writing
IV. OBJECTIVE AND SUBJECTIVE
OBJECTIVE
Test that measures an individual’s
characteristics in a way that isn’t
influenced by the examiner’s own
beliefs; in this way, they are said to
be independent of rater bias
Objective items include multiplechoice, true-false, matching and
completion
Reliable and valid
E.g: Self- Report Measure
SUBJECTIVE
An assessment tool that is scored
according to or to standards that are
less systematic
Subjective items include short answer
essays, problem solving and
performance test items
Reliability and validity are less accurate
E.g: Case History and Interview
V. CULTURE SPECIFIC AND SUBJECTIVE
CULTURE SPECIFIC
Targets on specific population
SUBJECTIVE
Does not target on a specific
population
Results are biased due to cultural
Results are not biased due to cultural
influence
influence
Population which is influenced by
Administered to identify innate
cultural elements display either low or abilities that is not affected by culture
high scores in association with test
norms
PsyQuesta
Learn Psychology with Afa
VI. NORM REFERENCED AND CRITERION REFERENCED
NORM REFERENCED
Measures performance of one group
of the test takers against another
group of test takers.
Each skill is tested by less than four
items. The items vary in difficulty.
CRITERION REFERENCED
Measures performance of test takers
against the criteria covered in the
curriculum.
Each skill is tested by less than four
items to obtain an adequate sample of
the students.
Norm- Referenced test scores are
Criterion - Reference tests need not be
reported in a percentile rank.
administered in a standardized format.
If a test taker ranks 95%, it implies
The score determines how much of the
that he/she has performed better than curriculum is understood by the test
95% of the other test takers
taker
PsyQuesta
Learn Psychology with Afa
MODULE- 3
TEST CONSTRUCTION AND ADMINISTRATION
A. GENERAL STEPS TO TEST CONSTRUCTION
I. PLANNING
 The first step in construction of a test is careful planning. At this stage the test
constructor specifies the broad and specific objectives of the test in clear
terms decides upon the nature of the content or item to be included, the type
of instructions to be included, the method of sampling, a detailed
arrangement of preliminary administration and the final administration, a
probable length and time limit for the completion of the test, probable
statistical method to be used, etc.
 Planning also includes the total number of reproduction of the test to be made
and a preparation of manual.
II. WRITING DOWN THE ITEMS
The second step in the test construction is the preparation of the items of the
test.
 According to Bean, an item is defined as the single question or task that is not
even broken down into any smaller units.
 Item writing starts with the planning done earlier the test constructor decides
to prepare an essay test, the essay tests are written down. However, if he
decides to create an objective test, he writes down the objective items such as
the alternative response items, matching item, multiple choice items,
completion item, pictorial form of items, etc. Depending on the purpose he
decides to write any of their objective types of items.
 There are some essential prerequisites which must be made if the item writer
wants to write good and appropriate items. These requirements are
enumerated as follows
 The item writer must have a thorough knowledge and complete mastery
of the subject matter.
 The item writer must be fully aware of those person for whom the test is
meant. He must be aware of intelligence level of those persons so that he
may manipulate the difficulty level of the items for proper adjustment
with their ability level.
 The item writer must be familiar with different type of items along with
their advantages and disadvantages. He must also be aware of the
characteristics of good items and the common probable errors in writing
items.
 The item writer must have a large vocabulary. He must know the
different meanings of the word so that the confusion in writing the items
may be avoided. He must be able to convey the meaning of items in the
PsyQuesta
Learn Psychology with Afa
simple possible language.
 After writing down the items, they must be submitted to a group of
subject experts for their criticisms and suggestions, which must then be
duly modified.
 The item writer must also cultivate a rich source of ideas for items. The
common source for this are textbooks, journals, discussions, questions for
interview, course outlines and other instructional materials.
 After the items have been written down, they are renewed by some experts
or by the item writer himself and then arrange in the order in which they
have to appear in final.
 Generally items are arranged in an increasing order of difficulty and those
having the same form (i.e, alternative form matched) and dealing with the
same contents are placed together
III. ITEM ANALYSIS
MEANING AD PURPOSE
 After item writing, revision and editing they are subjected to a procedure
called item analysis
 Item analysis is a technique through which those items which are valid and
suited to the purpose are selected and the rest are either eliminated or
modified to suit the purpose
 It demonstrates how effectively a given test item functions within the total
test.
 The validity of the whole test is depend upon the validity of the individual
item.
 It is a set of procedures that provide us with the estimate of validity of each
item.
 The main objective of item analysis are :
 Item analysis indicate which items are difficult, easy, moderately difficult,
or moderately easy. In other words it provides an index of the difficulty
value to each item.
 It also provides indices of ability of the item to discriminate between
inferior and superior. In other words item analysis indicates the
discrimination value of each item, this is known as item validity.
 It indicates the effectiveness of the distractors in multiple choice items
since multiple choice items are the more powerful and flexible objective
items and many of standardized tests unlike this form of item. Although
item analysis is done to indicate the extend to which the distractors or foils
are effective in each item. It sometimes also indicates why a particular
item in the test has not functioned effectively and how this might to
modified so that its functional significance can be increased.
ITEM DIFFICULTY
 In item analysis the 1 st step is to find out the difficulty value of the item or
PsyQuesta
Learn Psychology with Afa
index of difficulty of an item.
 The difficulty value of the item is defined as the proportion or percentage of
examines or individuals who answer the item correctly. this propotion or
percentage is known as the index of difficulty of an item.
 If an item was answers correctly by 90% of the examines it obviously means
that the item is relatively easy and it is not well discriminating.
 Maximum discrimination is possible when an item is answered correctly by
50% and wrongly by 50%.
 The proportion passing an item is inversely related to the difficulty of an
item. The higher the proportion or percentage getting the item right (i.e,
higher the index of difficulty) the easier the item and lower the proportion
getting the item right (i.e, lower the index of difficulty) the more difficult the
item.
 Any test to be called a measuring instrument must have some items of
higher indices of difficulty, the items must have a normal distribution with
respect to these indices of difficulty.
 The reason why items of moderate difficulty indices are preferred is that
they signal the maximum variance. As the index of the item increases /
decreases the variance of the item gradually decreases. i.e, its ability to make
comparisons among those those who pass and those who foil decreases.
 Basically these are 2 important methods of determining the difficulty value
of an item.:
i. Method Of Judgement
 In this method the difficulty value of an item is determined on the
basis of the judgement of experts.
 Items are given to a group of experts with the instruction to rank the
items in their increasing order of difficulty. Subsequently, the test
constructor takes a final decision keeping in view the commonality of
ranks assigned to each item by the different judges as the experts.
 The demerit of this procedure is that they cannot be fully reliable and
objective.
ii. Emperical Method
 Also called the statistical method
 It is the basic and scientific method of determining difficulty index of
an item.
 There are 2 common statistical method through which difficulty index
can be estimated. One method is on the basis of response of all the
examines whereas another method is on the basis of the response of
only a position of the examines.
P = R/N
P - difficulty index
R - no: of examine who pass the item.
N - total no: of examines
PsyQuesta
Learn Psychology with Afa
I. ITEM DISCRIMINATION
 The determination of the index of discrimination is also known as validity index.
 Index of discrimination is that ability of the item on the basis of which the
discrimination or distinction is made between superiors and inferiors.
 Bean has defined this index as “the degree to which the single item separates the
superior from the inferior individual in the trait or group of traits being
measured.”
 From the point of view of the discriminatory power, all test items can be divided
into items that are either (a) positively discriminating, (b) negatively
discriminating or (c) non discriminating
 A positively discriminating item may be defined as one in which proportion or
percentage of correct answer is higher in the upper group. When the proportion
or percentage of correct answer is lower in the upper group is called the
negatively discriminating item.
 Items in which the percentage or proportion of correct answers is approximately
equal in both the groups is called a non discriminating item.
 The negative and non discriminating items are dropped after item analysis.
IV. PRELIMINARY ADMINISTRATION
When the items have been written down and modified in the light of the
suggestions and criticism given by the experts, the test is said to be ready for its
experimental try out.
The purpose of preliminary administration of any psychological test is as given
below:
i. Finding out the major weaknesses, omission, ambiguities and inadequacies
of the items.
ii. Determining the difficulty values of each item which in turn helps in
selecting items for their even and proper distribution in the final form.
iii. Determining the validity of the each individual item. The preliminary
administration helps in determining the discriminatory power of each
individual item.
iv. Determining a reasonable time limit of the test.
v. Determining the appropriate length of the test, i.e, it helps in determining
the no: of items to be included in the final form.
vi. Determining the inter-correlations of item so that overlapping can be
avoided.
vii. Identifying any weakness and vagueness in directions or instructions of the
test as well as in the fore-exercises or sample questions of the test.
 According to Conard (1951), there should be at least three preliminary
administration of the test
1. 1st administration to detect any gross defects. Ambiguities and
omission in items and instructions. For this, the no: of examines should be
PsyQuesta
Learn Psychology with Afa
not less than 100.
2. 2nd administration to provide data for item analysis, and for this the no:
of examines should be around 400. the sample for this must be similar to
those for whom the test is intended.
It aim at obtaining three kinds of information regarding the items :
i. The difficulty value of the item
ii. The discrimination index of the item
iii. The effectiveness of distractors.
3. The 3rd preliminary administration is carried out to detect any minor defects
that may not have been detected by the first two preliminary administration.
At this stage the items are selected after item analysis and they constitute
the test in the final form. The 3rd administration indicates how effective the
test will really be when it would be administered on the sample for which it
is really intended.
V. STANDARDIZATION
 Norms are established for the sake of standardization of any test.
Standardization is the process whereby a test is administered to a
representative sample of population whom the test is meant for, for the sake
of establishing norms. A standardized test is the one that has normative data,
as well as clearly specified administration and scoring procedures.
VI. PREPARATION OF MANUAL AND REPRODUCTION OF THE TEST
The last step in test construction is the preparation of a manual of the test.
 In the manual the test constructor reports the psychometric properties of
the test, norms and references. Thus gives a clear indication regarding the
procedures of the test administration, the scoring methods and time limits if
any, of the test.
 It also includes instructions as well as the details of arrangement of
materials i.e, whether the items have been arranged in random order or in
any other order.
 In general, the test manual should yield information about the
standardisation sample, reliability, validity, scoring as well as practical
considerations
 The test constructor after seeing the importance and requirement of the test
finally orders for printing of the test and the manual
B. RELIABILITY AND ITS TYPE
 Reliability is one of the important characteristics of any test. it refers to the
precision or accuracy, of the measurement of scores in other words the score
should be consistent. When all other factors are held constant or somehow
controlled, a reliable test is one that produces identical results for an
examinee from one occasion to the other.
PsyQuesta
Learn Psychology with Afa
Test-Retest Reliability
 Test-retest reliability deals with two performances of the same test by the
same persons on two different occasions with a reasonable time gap.
 This way of two administrations of the same test yield two independent set
of scores. The two sets when correlated, give the value of the reliability
coefficient.
 The test-retest coefficient is also known as the coefficient of stability. The
test takers' scores on first administration of the test are correlated with their
scores obtained on the second administration of the same test.
 a major advantage of this method is that there is maximum control over the
test taker and test item variables.
Alternate-Form Reliability
 Also known as parallel-form reliability, equivalent form reliability, and the
comparable forms reliability.
 In order to overcome the problems caused by using the same version of the
test on two occasions.
 This involves computing the alternate-form reliability. In this approach the
test developer develops two alternate or parallel forms of the same test.
Ideally speaking the two forms should be independently developed and
completely parallel or equivalent forms of the same measure. They should
match each other in all respects. Two forms of the test are administered to
the same sample, either immediately the same day or with the time interval
of usually a fortnight. If reliability is calculated on the basis of data collected
immediately on the basis of two administrations of the test, it is called
alternate form (immediate)reliability and if reliability is calculated on the
basis of data collected after a gap of fortnight, it is called alternate form
(delayed) reliability.
Internal consistency reliability
 Also called as split half reliability.
 Indicates the homogeneity of the test
 Alternate form reliability is a popular type of reliability but with some
obvious limitation like it is not easy and requires a lot of time and effort, the
practice effect and prior experience may affect performance on the second
occasion. The time gap between two administrations is another intervening
variable.
 To overcome these problems, split-half reliability is computed.
 The test is arbitrarily divided into two halves. Scores on one half are
correlated with scores on the other, using Pearson's r. The obtained value is
the 'coefficient of internal consistency.
 In this approach error caused by the temporal variation or different sets of
items is controlled.
 The common method of splitting the test is odd- even method.
PsyQuesta
Learn Psychology with Afa
Inter-scorer Reliability/Inter-rater Reliability
 At times the test may have to be evaluated by more than just one examiner.
 In case of objective tests, a test taker will obtain the same marks no matter
who, and how many people, evaluate it. On the other hand, when essay type
or other open-ended items are to be evaluated, a need for multiple scorers
may arise.
 When more than one person is evaluating, inter-scorer reliability is required.
 Some common procedures include the following:
1. Two examiners evaluate and mark a test of a group of test takers. The
resulting two sets of scores are used for computing correlation between
the two sets Intra-class coefficient/ coefficient of concordance. Two or
more examiners score the performance of a number of test takers and
the coefficient is computed from these scores.
C. MEANING OF VALIDITY AND ITS TYPES
 The term validity means truth or fidelity. Thus, validity refers to the degree
to which a test measures what it claims to measure.
 a test is valid to the extent that it serves the purpose for which it is to be
used.
Types Of Validity
Content Validity:
 Content validity is also known as curricular validity intrinsic validity,
relevance, circular validity and representativeness.
 Content validity is a non-statistical type of validity that is usually associated
with the achievement test.
 When a test is constructed so that its content of term measures what the
whole test claims to measure, then the test is said to have content validity.
For example, suppose a professor wants to test the overall knowledge of his
students in the subject of elementary statistics, test will have content
validity if the test covers every topic of elementary statistics that he taught in
the class. Face validity
Face validity
 often confused with content validity
 Face validity refers not what the test actually claims to measure but to what
it appears to measure superficially.
 in other words face validity is the mere appearance that the test has validity
Thus, face validity should not be taken in the technical sense, nor should it
be regarded as a substitute for objectively determined validity, when a test
item looks valid to the group of examinees because it provides a logical link
with the objective, the test is said to have face validity.
PsyQuesta
Learn Psychology with Afa
Criterion-Related Validity
 One approach to assessment of validity is through comparing the test results
with a criterion.
 Consider a situation where you are looking for a foot ruler to measure the
length of a large sheet of paper. Someone brings a stick to you and tells you
that the stick is foot long and you can use it instead of a ruler. You doubt this
and want to ensure that this stick is really foot long. Now you look for
another object that you are sure is foot long, though cannot be used for
measuring another object. You see that the tiles in your kitchen are 6x6
inches square. You measure the stick against the tiles, and you see that the
stick is equal to two tiles in length i e.. 12 inch long. What you have done
here is, you measured your tool with reference to a criterion and the result
of this exercise showed that your tool was valid. You can use it instead of a
ruler.
 There are two types of criterion-related validity: Predictive Validity: "The
evidence that a test forecast score on the criterion at some future time",
Predictive validity is also known as empirical validity or statistical validity.
 In predictive validity, a test is correlated against the Criterion to be made
available.sometime in the future. The test scores are obtained and then a
time gap of month or years is allowed to elapse, after which the Criterion
scores are obtained.
 Concurrent validity: Concurrent valid evidence is defined as "evidence for
criterion validity in which the test and the criterion are administered at the
same point in time
Construct Validity
 Construct validity is measured keeping in view the particular construct that
the test is supposed to measure.
 If the test is found to measure the construct in question, then it is a valid test,
and it does not measure the trait then the test is not accepted as valid.
 Construct validity is about ensuring that the method of measurement
matches the construct you want to measure.
D. NORMS AND ITS TYPES
 A norm represents a typical level of performance for a particular group.
 In a test, norm is that score which has been obtained most by the group.
Types Of Norms
Percentile Norm
 Percentile norm indicates, for each raw score, percentage of standardization
sample that falls at or below that raw score.
PsyQuesta
Learn Psychology with Afa
 For example, suppose Mohan has a score of 26 the mechanical reasoning
test and if 40% of the standardization sample secures below the score of 26
Mohan has percentile rank of 40 or PR40 and percentile score of 26.
 Percentile norms, provide a basis for interpreting an individual's score on a
test in terms of his own standing in a particular standardization sample.
 If the percentile norm is to be meaningful, it should be based upon a sample
which has been made homogenous with respect to age, grade, sex
occupation and other factors.
Standard score norm
 Norm based upon a standard score
 here unit of the scale are equal so that they convey the same meaning
throughout the whole range of the scale.
 Standard score, like the percentile score, is a derived score, it has a specified
or fixed mean and fixed standard deviation.
 Different types of standard scores are z-score, t-score, stanine score etc.
 Standard scores are needed primarily for two reasons. Firstly, when the
performance of the same person on different tests to be compared, and it is
best done through converting the raw scores into standard scores. Secondly,
standard scores have equal units of measurement, and their size does not
vary from distribution to distribution. Hence, they are frequently used in
interpreting test scores.
Age Equivalent Norms
 Age equivalent norms are defined as the average performance of a
representative sample of a certain age level on the measure of a certain trait
or ability.
 For example, if we measure the weight of a representative sample of 10year-old girls of the state of Bihar and find out the average of the obtained
weight we can determine the age norm for the weight of 10-year-old girls.
 Age norms are more suited to those traits or abilities which increase
systematically with age. So, most of the physical treats like weight, height etc
and cognitive abilities like intelligence shows such systematic change and
age norms can be more appropriately used for these traits
Grade-Equivalent Norms
 grade equivalent norms are defined as the average performance of a
representative sample of a certain Grade or class.
 The test whose norms are being prepared, is given to the representative
sample selected from each of the several grades or classes, After that the
average performance of each grade on the given test is determined.
 Grade equivalents represent the scores on educational achievement tests
attained by children in a certain grade. These norms are obtained by
calculating the mean raw scores of children in the standardization sample
representing each grade. If 6th grade children in the standardization sample
PsyQuesta
Learn Psychology with Afa
obtained a mean score of 35 in arithmetic test, then this raw score has a
grade equivalent of 6. Hence a student obtaining 35 on the same test will be
said to have a grade equivalent of 6.
 t SCORE: -Standard score with the mean of 50 and standard deviation of 10
PsyQuesta
Learn Psychology with Afa
MODULE - 4
BASICS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH
A. MEANING AND CHARACTERISTICS OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH
 Scientific research is a systematic and objective attempt to provide answers to
certain questions.
 scientific research may be defined as the systematic and empirical recording
and analysis of controlled observation, which may lead to development of
theories, concepts, generalizations and principles, resulting in prediction and
control of these activities that may have some cause effect relationship.
 Kerlinger(1973) defined scientific research as “a systematic, controlled,
empirical and critical investigation of hypothetical propositions about the
presumed relations among natural phenomena.”
B. CHARACTERISTICS OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH:
1. directed towards the solution of a problem or any relation between
variables under study.
2.
3. Always based upon empirical or observable evidences.
4. Involves precise observation using valid and reliable instruments for
collection of data and uses statistical methods for accurate description of
the results obtained.
5. Emphasizes on development of theories, principles and generalizations
regarding the variables studied and the populations.
6. systematic, objective and logical procedures.
7. Research is marked by patience, courage and unhurried activities.
8. Requires full expertise and awareness of relevant aspects of the problem,
history, literature and sophisticated statistical methods for analysis.
9. The designs, procedures and results of scientific research must be
replicable to ensure reliability and validity.
10. The research requires skills of writing and preparing a research report.
C. TYPES OF RESEARCH
1. Historical research: investigates, records, analyses and interprets the
events of the past for the purpose of discovering sound generalizations that
are helpful and useful in understanding the past, the present and to a limited
extent, the anticipated future.
2. Descriptive/non-experimental/Correlational research: describes, records,
analyses and interprets the existing conditions. Here, an attempt is made to
discover relationships that exist between non-manipulated variables, or some
comparison or contrast among them.
PsyQuesta
Learn Psychology with Afa
3. Experimental research: one in which primary focus is upon variable
relationship. Here, certain variables are controlled or manipulated and their
effect is examined upon some other variables.
1. HISTORICAL
 application of scientific method to the description and analysis of past events.
 It is supposed to be a factual integrated account of the relationships between
persons, times and events.
 Historical research becomes necessary not only for knowing the past but also
for understanding the present and predicting future in that context.
Steps in historical research:
1. Selection of the problem – all problems are not suitable for historical research.
Only those problems that can be studied with the help of historical records
and have some social utility can be picked up.
2. Formulation of hypothesis – they are explicitly formulated in historical
research. Researcher gathers evidence and carefully evaluates the
trustworthiness of the hypothesis.
3. Collection of data – historical data is collected from primary sources and
secondary sources. Primary sources are eyewitness accounts by actual
observers or participants in the event. Secondary sources are gathered after
the event talking to the observers and participants.
4. Analysis and generalization – historians employ principles of probability and
rigorously subject the evidence to critical analysis.
2. DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH V/S EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH
 descriptive research is where independent variables cannot be manipulated
and cannot be experimentally studied.
 The subjects are not randomly assigned into different treatment conditions.
 the response of a group of subjects are measured on one variable and then
compared with their measured responses on another variable.
 Such research is also called R/R research because changes in one set of
responses are compared with possible changes in another set of responses.
 Field studies, ex post-facto research, survey research, content analysis, case
studies etc are examples.
 An experimental research is where the independent variables can be directly
manipulated by the experimenter, and participants or subjects are randomly
assigned into different treatment conditions.
 experimental research is sometimes called the S/R research because the
researcher manipulates a stimulus in order to establish whether or not this
produces a change in certain response.
 They are further of two types – laboratory experiments and field experiments.
PsyQuesta
Learn Psychology with Afa
3. BASIC VERSUS APPLIED RESEARCH
 Basic or fundamental or pure research is the formal and systematic process
where the researcher’s aim is to develop a theory or a model by identifying all
the important variables in a situation.
 They try discovering broad generalizations and principles about those
variables.
 It utilizes a careful sample so that its conclusion can be generalized to
immediate situations but has little concern with the actual application of its
generalizations or principles.
 Applied research, as its name implies, applies the theory or model developed
through the basic research to the actual solution of problems.
 It has characteristics common to fundamental research. It also tends to make
generalizations and uses various sampling methods.
 The main purpose of applied research is not to develop theories about a fact
but to test those theories in actual situations.
D. RESEARCH PROCESS
Even though research is a tedious, painful and slow moving job, following
certain steps in conducting the research the work can be carried smoothly and
with least difficulty.
1. IDENTIFYING THE PROBLEM
 The first step in conducting a research is to identify the problem.
 The researcher must discover a suitable problem and define it operationally.
 A problem is defined as that interrogative testable statement which shows a
relationship between two or more variables in an unambiguous manner. For
example, take the following statement:What is the relationship between
academic ability and socio- economic status?
Characteristics of a problem statement:
1. A problem statement is clear, specific, unambiguous and substantially relevant
2. It expresses the relationship between two or more variables
3. A problem statement is testable with empirical methods
4. It must avoid moral or ethical judgments that are difficult to study
5. It can be general or specific with sufficient importance
Ways in which problems manifest:
1. When there is a clear gap in the results of several investigations in the same
field
2. When results of several studies disagree with each other
3. When the facts of a field are based on unexplained information
Types of problems
Research problems can be broadly categorized into two types:
PsyQuesta
Learn Psychology with Afa
a. Solvable problem
A solvable problem raises questions which can be answered with the use of our
normal capacities. It has two features;
 It can be solved by empirical methods that use observation of natural
events
 It is possible to advance a suitable hypothesis as a tentative solution to it
b. Unsolvable problem
It is one that raises questions which cannot be answered using our normal
capacities. They usually pertain to supernatural phenomena. It has three
characteristics as follows;
 An unsolvable problem possess the trait of un-structuredness as the
researcher’s interest is not clear but unorganized
 It has inadequately defined terms and operational definition and
variable contains vagueness
 It is difficult to collect relevant data regarding the problem
2. HYPOTHESIS
 When the problem has been stated, a tentative solution in the form of a
testable proposition is offered by the researcher which is called a hypothesis.
 According to McGuigan (1990) hypothesis is “a testable statement, of potential
relationship between two (or more) variables, that is advanced as potential
solution to the problem.”
 On the basis of given definition, two points can be suggested about hypo thesis.
First, a hypothesis is a testable statement where measurable variables are
used. Second, a hypothesis exhibits either a general or specific relationship
between variables. After testing the hypothesis the researcher may find it to
be correct or incorrect.
 A good hypothesis meets the following criteria or characteristics;
1. The hypothesis should be conceptually clear
2. The hypothesis should be testable
3. The hypothesis should be economical and parsimonious
4. The hypothesis must be related to the existing body of theory and facts
5. The hypothesis should have logical unity and comprehensiveness
6. The hypothesis should be general in scope
7. The hypothesis should be related to available scientific tools and
techniques
8. The hypothesis should be in accord with other hypotheses in the field
Types of hypothesis
 Alternative Hypothesis (research or experimental hypothesis) - The
alternative hypothesis states that there is a relationship between the two
variables being studied (one variable has an effect on the other). It states that
the results are not due to chance and that they are significant in terms of
supporting the theory being investigated.
PsyQuesta
Learn Psychology with Afa
 Null Hypothesis - The null hypothesis states that there is no relationship
between the two variables being studied (one variable does not affect the
other). It states results are due to chance and are not significant in terms of
supporting the idea being investigated.
 Directional Hypothesis - A one-tailed directional hypothesis predicts the
nature of the effect of the independent variable on the dependent variable.
E.g., adults will correctly recall more words than children.
 Non-directional Hypothesis - A two-tailed non-directional hypothesis
predicts that the independent variable will have an effect on the dependent
variable, but the direction of the effect is not specified. E.g., there will be a
difference in how many numbers are correctly recalled by children and adults.
 Simple hypothesis: contains only one or two variables
 Complex hypothesis: hypothesis that contains more than two variables and
require complex statistical calculations
3. VARIABLES
 variables may be defined as those attributes of objects, events, things and
beings which can be measured.
 variables are the characteristics or conditions that are manipulated, controlled
or observed by the experimenter. Intelligence, anxiety, aptitude, income,
education, authoritarianism etc are examples.
 Variables can be classified in several ways. Some of the commonly accepted
classifications are given below.
a) Dependent variables and Independent variables
 The dependent variable is defined as one which experimenter makes a
prediction.
 The independent variable is defined as the one which is manipulated,
measured and selected by the researcher to produce changes in the measured
behaviour (dependent variable).
 The dependent variable is the characteristic or condition that changes as the
experimenter manipulates the independent variables. The independent
variable is that characteristic or condition which is manipulated or selected
by the experimenter to find its relationship in some observable phenomena.
 For example if a researcher wants to find the effect of teaching methods on
academic achievement, teaching methods constitute the independent variable
and the academic achievement constitute the dependent variable.
 Extraneous variables: are the uncontrolled variable that may affect the
dependent variable. The experimenter is not interested in finding the
extraneous variable’s effect and thus has to try and control them as far as
possible. They are also referred to as confounding variables or relevant
variables.
4. FORMULATING RESEARCH DESIGN
 it is the blueprint of the detailed procedures of testing the hypothesis and
analyzing the obtained data.
PsyQuesta
Learn Psychology with Afa
 the sequence of those steps taken ahead of time to ensure that the relevant
data will be collected in a way that permits objective analysis of the different
hypotheses.
 The selection of any research design is based upon the purpose of the
investigation, types of variables and the conditions in which the research has
to take place.
 Basically a research design serves two functions.
i. it answers the research question as objectively, validly and economically
as possible.
ii. It acts as a control mechanism. This enables the researcher to control
unwanted variances such as experimental variance, extraneous variance
and error variance.
Types of research design
I. Within-groups design (repeated treatment/measures)
If the researcher is using only one group of subjects who will be tested under
different values of the independent variables, the resulting experimental
design is called within-groups design. Such designs are of two sub types.
a. Complete within-groups design - in which practice effects are
balanced by administering the conditions several times to each subject,
in different orders each time, to obtain interpretable results.
b. Incomplete within-groups design – in which each condition is
administered to each subject only once while varying the order of
administration across the subjects in a way the practice effects can be
neutralized.
II. Between groups design (between subjects/independent measures)
If the researcher decides to use two separate groups for each value of the
independent variable, the resulting design is referred to as between-groups
design.
a. Randomized group design – one in which subjects are randomly
assigned to the different groups meant for the different conditions or
values of independent variable.
b. Matched groups design – one in which the subjects are matched
depending upon mean, standard deviation, pairs etc.
c. Factorial design – in which two or more independent variables are
studied in all possible combinations (each having a separate group) in
order to study their independent and interactive effects on dependent
variable.
5. REVIEWING LITERATURE
 A collective body of works done by earlier scientists is technically called the
literature. Any scientific investigation starts with a review of the literature.
 The main objectives of literature review are given below.
PsyQuesta
Learn Psychology with Afa
1. Identifying variables relevant for research: when the researcher makes a
careful review of the literature, he becomes aware of the important and
unimportant variables in the concerned area of research.
2. Avoidance of repetition: helps the researcher in avoiding any duplication
of work done earlier by someone. Prior studies have to be the foundation
of the current study and in some cases replication of a study also can be
needed.
3. Synthesis of prior works: enables the researcher to collect and synthesize
the findings of previous studies related to the problem. It gives a wider
perspective to the future research.
4. Determining meaning and relationship among variables: careful review of
literature enables the researcher in discovering significant variables and
identifying important relations among variables.
Sources of review
 Journals and Books- Different research journals and books relevant to the
areas of interest are the primary sources of literature review. Libraries have
books and periodical sections with journals. Referred journals carry only
those articles which are carefully reviewed by experts before publication.
 Reviews- Reviews are short articles that give brief information regarding the
work done in a particular area over a period of time. Reviewers select
research articles of their interest, organize them content-wise, criticize their
findings and offer their own suggestions and conclusions. They can often
guide you to serious books and journals.
 Abstracts- In an abstract, researchers can get all the relevant information
regarding the paper and the problem discussed. Only limitation of abstracts is
that the researcher who desire detailed information regarding the
methodology and results.
 Internet- Today, the internet is a very easy and quick source of literature
review. They provide an easy way to find the original articles related to the
problem. Plenty sites that discuss issues relevant to the problem can give
enough information and resources.
 Doctoral dissertations- Dissertations by those who studied similar issues can
be found at many institutes and libraries. The researcher can choose
interested topics and find useful information and references there. Most
dissertations include chapters like an introduction, review of the literature,
purpose of the study, method of the study, data collected, analysis and
interpretation, summary and conclusion.
 Supervisors /research professors- Those who have been working with
researchers for long time often know the literature well and are able to guide
in right direction. Therefore, it is advised that a researcher consult supervisor,
research professors and assistants in the process.
6. SAMPLING
PsyQuesta
Learn Psychology with Afa
 A population may be defined as the identifiable and well specified group of
individuals or objects the researcher wants to study. A population can be
finite or infinite like the students of a class and fishes in a river respectively.
 A measure based upon the entire population is called a parameter.
 A sample is any number of units selected to represent the population
according to some rule or plan. A measure based upon a sample is known as
statistic.
 most sampling methods can be categorized into two –
1. Probability Sampling Methods
specify the probability or likelihood of inclusion of each element or
individual in the sample. That means
i. the size of parent population from which the sample has to be taken is
known to the researcher.
ii. each element of the population must have an equal chance of being
included in a subsequent sample.
iii. the desired sample must be clearly specified.
The major probability sampling methods are the following:
a. Simple random sampling- every member of a population has an equal
chance of being a sample i.e., samples are randomly assigned
b. Systematic sampling- every ith item from the list is selected as the
sample.
c. Stratified random sampling - used in cases where the data is
heterogeneous. The population is divided into different strata with
specific characteristics
d. Area or cluster sampling- the total population is divided into different
clusters\ groups and sample units are randomly from each of these
clusters
2. Non-probability Sampling Methods
there is no way of assessing the probability of the elements of the
population being included in the sample.
Important techniques of non-probability sampling are:
a. Quota sampling- the sample size is fixed first and then quota is fixed
for various categories of population
b. Accidental sampling- investigator selects samples based upon his
convenience, economy and not based on specific traits
c. Judgemental/purposive sampling- Sampling units are selected on the
basis of some belief of a researcher that it represents the population
well.
d. Snowball sampling-Initially selected respondent provides addresses of
additional respondents.
e. Saturation sampling - Drawing all elements of individuals having
characteristics of interest to the invigilator is called saturation
sampling
PsyQuesta
Learn Psychology with Afa
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
FUNDAMENTALS OF SAMPLING
Universe or population – population is a group of objects, animate or
inanimate, finite or infinite under the study
Sampling frame – the list of all items in a population
Sampling design – it means a plan for obtaining a sample from the
sampling frame. It refers to the procedure the researcher would adopt in
selecting the sample.
Statistic and parameter –statistic is a numerical value based upon the
sample ,where as parameter is the numerical value based upon population
Sampling error – Sampling error is a difference between the parameter and
statistic, ie “a sampling error is a difference between parameter and estimate
of that parameter which is derived from sample”
Confidence level and significance level – confidence level is the
likelihood that the actual value will fall within the stated precision limits.
Significance level, on the other hand, is the level that indicates the likelihood
that the answer will fall outside the precision range. If the confidence level is
95%, then the corresponding significance level is 100-95 = 5% or 0.05.
E. DATA COLLECTION TECHNIQUES
1. QUESTIONNAIRE AND SCHEDULE
 Questionnaires are used when factual information from the respondents is
desired.
 It consists of a form containing a series of questions where the respondents
themselves fill in the answers.
 It enables researchers to get first-hand information regarding the vagueness
of items and establish a warm relationship with the persons being tested.
 A schedule consists of a form containing a series of questions, which are asked
and filled in by the investigator in a face to face situation.
 An opinionnaire is an information form which attempts to measure the
attitude or belief of an individual. Hence, an opinionnaire is also called a
attitude scale.
Types of Questionnaires
1. Fixed response questionnaire/ close ended
 consists of statements or questions with a fixed number of options or choices.
Example: Do you feel shy talking to members of opposite sex? (Yes/No)
 Data collection and statistical analysis will be made easier with this type of
questionnaires.
 They will also be time- money and energy saving.
 Disadvantages include the researcher’s inability to provide enough relevant
responses and these questionnaires can encourage a respondent to adopt
some kind of response set or bias.
2. Open end questionnaire
 questions that require short or lengthy answers by the respondents.
 particularly useful in situations where researchers have little information
PsyQuesta
Learn Psychology with Afa
about the subjects to be studied
 elicits unanticipated and insightful responses that can increase the researchers’
understanding.
 Disadvantages include biases that may occur. Educational or socio- economic
backgrounds may affect the way different respondents understand and
respond to items. They are also time consuming and may reduce participation,
scoring and statistical analysis are more difficult and misleading.
Example: What are the causes of student unrest in the campus?
Characteristics of a good questionnaire:
1. Questionnaire must be concerned with specific and relevant topics.
2. Significance, objectives and aims of the questionnaire are clearly stated
3. Be short and avoid burdening the respondent
4. Use simple and clear language for directions and questions
5. Questions must be objective without hinting any possible answer
6. Embarrassing questions, presuming questions and hypothetical questions
must be avoided
7. The items must be placed in a good and systematic order to elicit valid
responses
8. Must be clearly arranged, printed attractive and neatly
2.INTERVIEW
 Interview is a face to face interaction between interviewer and interviewee
which intends to elicit some desired information from the latter. Like
questionnaire, interview aims to obtain data regarding the respondents with
minimum bias and maximum efficiency. Success of an interview depends on
characteristics of the interviewer, the questions and the respondent.
Types of interviews
1. Structured or formal interview – already prepared questions are asked in
a set order by the interviewer and answers are recorded in a standardized form.
since questions and response marking are structured, a relatively less trained
interviewer can conduct the interview smoothly. The systematic procedure also
makes them more valid than informal interviews. At the same time they are
time consuming and expensive, also less valid than other methods like bio data
analysis and standardized psychological test.
2. Unstructured or informal interview – there are no pre- determined
questions nor any preset order of the questions and it is left to the interviewer
to ask some questions in a way he likes regarding a number of points the
interview is supposed to build up on. An advantage to informal interview is
that the interviewer gets to probe more to gain a deeper understanding of the
respondent’s behaviour. Disadvantages include the dependency on the
interviewer that reduces reliability, need for skilled and trained interviewer
and the data collected being difficult to quantify and analyse statistically.
PsyQuesta
Learn Psychology with Afa
3.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Advantages of Interviews
Allows greater flexibility in the process of questioning
Facilitates obtaining desired information readily and quickly
Ensures the interviewee interpret and answer the questions themselves
Validity of the verbal responses checked non-verbally
Desired level of control can be exercised over the situations and contexts
Disadvantages of Interviews
1. Interviewers’ variability
2. Inter-interviewer variability
3. Doubtful validity and dependability of verbal responses
4. Time consuming
5. Variations inherent to the interviewing context
6. No foolproof system for recording responses
Important sources of error in interviews
1. Attitude of the interviewer
2. Incomprehensibility of the questions asked
3. Lack in warmth in the interview situation
4. Lack of motivation of respondents
5. Duration of the interview
3. CONTENT ANALYSIS
 Content analysis\ document analysis, is a method used to analyse qualitative
data.
 it is a technique that allows a researcher to take qualitative data and to
transform it into quantitative data (numerical data).
 the analyzer takes the communications or documents prepared by the
respondents/subjects and systematically finds out the frequency or
proportion of their appearances.
 The technique can be used for data in many different formats, for example,
interview transcripts, letters, diaries, journals, stories, reports, academic
writings, autobiographies, film, and audio recordings. It can also be used for
analyzing responses to Projective tests.
Methods of content analysis
The most widely used method for content analysis was proposed by Berelson
(1954) and has three steps.
1. Specification of the universe – what are we looking for (variables)
2. Identify units of the analysis – five major units are words, themes, items,
characters and space-and-time measures
3. Quantification – assigning numerals to the objects of analysis
4. OBSERVATION
 refers to watching and listening to the behaviour of other persons over time
without manipulating or controlling it and record findings in a way that allow
some degree of analytical interpretation and discussion.
PsyQuesta
Learn Psychology with Afa
 Observation involves broadly selecting, recording and analysing behaviour for
empirical aims of description or development of theory.
 Observation usually occurs in natural settings although it could be in contrived
settings as laboratory experiments and simulations. It captures significant
events or occurrences affecting relations among the observed.
It identifies regularities and recurrences in social life through comparing
and contrasting other findings and theories.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Types of observation
Systematic observation – done according to some explicit procedures as
well as in accordance with the logic of scientific inference.
Unsystematic observation – casual observation made by the investigator
without specifying any explicit and objective inference.
Participant observation – the investigator actively participates in the
activities of the group to be observed. Also called disguised participant
observation. Observations occurs in a natural setting enabling to record the
behaviour in a realistic manner. observations of longer duration can yield
broad and meaningful information for understanding human behaviour. It is
usually unstructured and fails to be precise about data collection, making
statistical analysis difficult. It is time consuming and makes the process
effortful to observers. Since the participation is active, the observer sometimes
develop emotions towards the observed making the data collected biased.
Non-participant observation – the investigator observes the behaviour of
subjects in their natural setting without any participation. usually structured,
the observer plans for the nature of the setting they want to observe,
representativeness of the data, and problems associated with the presence of
observer. the obtained data is more reliable and representative. The observer
can plan the aspects and process of observation in a nice way. The observer is
also able to concentrate upon specific aspects of social behaviour and gets
better chances to find data or solution regarding the probe.Limitations of this
type of observation are (1) that the observed group and their setting does not
remain a natural one with the observer around and (2) it captures less natural
context of social settings than participant observation.
Naturalistic observation - This technique involves observing involves
studying the spontaneous behaviour of participants in natural surroundings.
The researcher simply records what they see in whatever way they can.
Controlled observation - The researcher decides where the observation will
take place, at what time, with which participants, in what circumstances and
uses a standardized procedure. Participants are randomly allocated to each
independent variable group.
Subjective observation - In subjective observation, which is also called
introspection, a person observes his own mental activities. Introspection
literally means, "Looking within". It means getting insight into one's own
mental activities. In introspection, a person perceives, analyses, and gives a
PsyQuesta
Learn Psychology with Afa
8. report of his own feelings and experiences.
5. RATING SCALE
 Rating scale is a technique to assess both actual behaviour as well as
remembered behaviour.
 It is defined as a technique through which the observer or rater categorizes
the objects, events or persons on a continuum, represented by as series of
continuous numerals.
 The purpose of rating scale is to know what kind of impressions the objects
or persons have made upon the raters. A rating scale usually has two, three,
five, seven, nine or eleven points on a line with descriptive categories.
 rating scales are divided into few categories.
1. Numerical scale - the observer is supplied with a sequence of numbers
well defined as to what they mean.
2. Graphic scale - the scales are presented graphically in which descriptive
cues corresponding to the different scales given.
3. Percentage rating - requires the rater to place the rates among different
specified percentage groups.
4. Standard scale is one in which the rater is presented with some
standards with pre-established scale values.
5. Scale of cumulated points - based on cumulated or summated points.
Here the person’s total score is the sum of individual ratings assigned to
all items on the scale.
6. Forced choice rating scale - the rater is given a set of attributes in terms
of verbal statements for a single item and s/he gets to decide which one
represents the rated object appropriately.
F.CARRYING OUT STATISTICAL ANALYSIS
 It is customary to choose the appropriate statistical tests on the basis of
the obtained data.
 If the data fulfil the requirement of parametric assumptions, any of the
parametric tests which suit the purpose can be selected. If the data do not
fulfil the parametric requirements, any of the non-parametric tests could
be used.
 Other things to be kept in mind in selection of appropriate statistical tests
are the number of independent and dependent variables and the nature of
the variables, that is, whether they are nominal, ordinal, ratio or interval.
 When both independent and dependent variables are interval measures
and are more than one, multiple correlation is the most appropriate
statistic. On the other hand, when they are interval measures and their
number is one, Pearson r may be used.
 With nominal and ordinal measures the non-parametric statistics are the
common choice.
 Sometimes, researchers transform the measures so that appropriate
statistical test may be applied without loss of much information. For
PsyQuesta
Learn Psychology with Afa
 example, if scores of two groups on interval measures are available but the
data do not fulfil the requirement for the t test, the researcher can
transform the interval measures to ordinal measures and subsequently,
apply the Mann-Whitney test.
DESCRIPTIVE AND INFERENTIAL STATISTICS
 Descriptive statistics describe a sample. take a group that you’re
interested in, record data about the group members, and then use
summary statistics and graphs to present the group properties.
 With descriptive statistics, there is no uncertainty because you are
describing only the people or items that you actually measure. You’re not
trying to infer properties about a larger population.
 Inferential statistics takes data from a sample and makes inferences about
the larger population from which the sample was drawn. Because the goal
of inferential statistics is to draw conclusions from a sample and
generalize them to a population, we need to have confidence that our
sample accurately reflects the population.
 Statistics which enables to make inferences or generalizations about a
population with known possibilities of error are called statistical
inferences. any statistical analysis dealing with the entire population, or to
describing the sample is descriptive statistics. On the other hand, if we
deal with a sample, our analysis relates not only to the characteristics of
the sample but it also provides information about the population. Such
statistics are known as inferential statistics or inductive statistics or
sampling statistics.
DRAWING CONCLUSIONS
 Once a researcher has designed the study and collected the data, using
statistics, researchers can summarize the data, analyze the results, and
draw conclusions based on this evidence.
 Not only can statistical analysis support (or refute) the researcher’s
hypothesis; it can also be used to determine if the findings are statistically
significant. When results are said to be statistically significant, it means
that it is unlikely that these results are due to chance.
 Based on these observations, researchers must then determine what the
results mean. In some cases, an experiment will support a hypothesis, but
in other cases, it will fail to support the hypothesis.
 Just because the findings fail to support the hypothesis does not mean
that the research is not useful or informative. In fact, such research plays
an important role in helping scientists develop new questions and
hypotheses to explore in the future.
 After conclusions have been drawn, the next step is to share the results
with the rest of the scientific community. This is an important part of the
process because it contributes to the overall knowledge base and can help
PsyQuesta
Learn Psychology with Afa
other scientists find new research avenues to explore.
G. STRUCTURE OF A RESEARCH REPORT
 The writing of the research report requires imagination, creativity and
resourcefulness. Research reports should be written in a dignified and
objective style, although there is no one such style which is acceptable to
all.
 The research reports aim at telling the readers the problems instigated,
the methods adopted, the results found and the conclusion reached.
 The research paper should be written in a clear and unambiguous
language so that the reader can also objectively judge the adequacy and
the validity of the research.
 For attaining objectivity, personal pronouns such as I, you, we, my, our,
etc., should be avoided and as their substitutes, expressions like
'investigator’, ‘researcher’ should be used.
 The research report, whether it is based on a dissertation or short-term
research paper, should be of fairly standardized pattern.
 Such standard conventions have been neatly outlined by Publication
Manual of the American Psychological Association, and have been
universally accepted.
 The publication manual has suggestions as to how to write a report
effectively, how to present ideas with concise expression and how to avoid
ambiguity and increase re-adaptability of the report. The following outline
or format is the typical research form prepared according to the
American Psychological Association’s Publication Manual
(1983);
I. Title page
a. Title
b. Author’s name and affiliation
c. Running head
d. Acknowledgements
II. Abstract
III. Introduction (no heading)
a. Statement of the problem
b. Background/review of literature
c. Purpose and rationale/hypothesis
IV.
Method
a. Subjects
b. Apparatus (if any)
c. Design
d. Procedure
V. Results
a. Tables and figures
b. Statistical presentation
PsyQuesta
Learn Psychology with Afa
VI.
VII.
VIII.
Discussion
a. Support or non-support of hypothesis
b. Practical and theoretical implications
c. Conclusions
References
Appendix (if appropriate)
APA style of reference writing
 References comprise all documents including journals, books, technical
reports, computer programs and unpublished works mentioned in the text
of the report.
 References are arranged in alphabetical order by the last name of the
author(s) and the year of publication in parenthesis,( ).
 in case of unpublished citations, only the reference is cited.
 Sometimes no author is listed and then, in that condition the first word of
the title or sponsoring organization is used to begin the entry.
 When more than one name is cited within parenthesis, the references are
separated by semicolons. In parenthesis, the page number is given only for
direct quotations. The researcher should check carefully that all references
cited in the text appear in the references and vice versa.
 References should not be confused with Bibliography.
 A bibliography contains everything that is included in the reference section
plus other publications which are useful but were not cited in the text or
manuscript.
 Bibliography is not generally included in research reports. Only references
are usually included. The Publication Manual of the American Psychological
Association (1983) has given some specific guidelines for writing references
of various types as indicated below.
1. For reference of books with single author:
Siegel, S (1956) Non-parametric Statistics for the Behavioural Sciences,
New York: McGraw Hill.
2. For reference of books with multiple authors:
Guilford, JP & Fruchter, B (1978) Fundamental Statistics in Psychology
and Education, New York: McGraw Hill.
3. For reference of corporate or association as author:
American Psychological Association (1983) Publication Manual (3rd ed.)
Washington.
4. For reference of journal article:
Edwards, AL & Kenny, KC (1946). A Comparison of Thurstone and
Likert techniques of Attitude Scale Construction, Journal of Applied
Psychology, 30, 70-73.
5. For reference of thesis or dissertation:
Singh AK (1978) Construction and Standardization of a Verbal
Intelligence Scale. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, Patna University,
PsyQuesta
Learn Psychology with Afa
Patna.
6. For reference of chapter in an edited book:
Atkinson, RC & Shiffrin, RM(1968) Human Memory: A proposed system
and its control processes. In The psychology of Learning and
Motivation, ed. KW Spence and JT Spence, vol. 2, pp 89-195. New York:
Academic Press.
PsyQuesta
Learn Psychology with Afa