An Introduction to Measurement and
Evaluation
Emily H. Wughalter, Ed.D.
Summer 2010
Department of Kinesiology
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Practice, Practice, Practice
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Focus
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Challenge
Course Objectives
Students will be able to:
 organize and describe data using descriptive and simple
inferential statistics for research and evaluation in physical
education, sport, and exercise science.
 apply measurement theory, i.e., reliability, validity, objectivity, and
sensitivity to the subdisciplines of physical education, sport, and
exercise science.
 appreciate the need for testing and evaluation, and good
assessment practices in physical education and kinesiology.
 apply culturally sensitive tools and a sense of social justice in all
measurement and evaluation practices.
 recognize the varying needs of individuals in movement and the
need to develop effective measurement and evaluation tools for
special settings.
Course Requirements
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Examination 1 and Examination 2, 20 points each
The first two exams will be held in class during Wednesday, June
14 and Wednesday, June 23 in the afternoon sessions, as
scheduled on the course calendar. Exams will consist of multiple
choice, short answer, and essay type questions. Essay questions
will test mathematical computations. Both tests will be open card
(to be explained in class) and calculators will be allowed.
Examination 3, 30 points
The final exam will be given in the morning of the final
Wednesday, July 7. The final is comprehensive examination
consisting of essay questions.
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Group Project, 25 points
Each student will be assigned to a small group. This group assignment
requires the design of a question to be tested, and a process for data
collection and analysis. The design, procedure, analysis, and
interpretation of data will culminate in a PowerPoint presentation to the
class by all groups during class on Monday morning July 7.
 Group Project Evaluation, 5 points
Each student is required to submit an assessment and a grade (A+
through F) for each group member. These grades and evaluations will
be accumulated to provide 5% of the final grade.
Measurement
Measurement means a characteristic is
defined and an instrument is selected to
measure it, e.g., height can be measured
with a tape measure, weight can be
measured with a weight scale.
 Name some other things that we
measure inside and outside of our field
of kinesiology.
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Evaluation
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Evaluation means that you gather
information to draw conclusions and
make new predictions.
Types of evaluation
Formative evaluation
 Summative evaluation
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Places where measurement and evaluation
are used:
Research
 Education
 Business
 Sports
 Medicine
 Health and Rehabilitation
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Reasons for Measurement and Evaluation
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Motivation
Accountability
Equipment
Placement
Diagnosis
Evaluation of learning
Prediction
Program Evaluation
Standards of Measurement and Evaluation-Measurement Theory
Reliability
 Validity
 Objectivity
 Sensitivity
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Ways of Describing Data
Continuous scores - “… have a potentially
infinite number of values, since they can be
measured with varying degrees of accuracy”.
 Discrete scores - “… are limited to a specific
number of values and are usually not
expressed as fractions”.
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Baumgartner & Jackson
Levels of Measurement
Nominal
Lowest level
Ordinal
Interval
Ratio
Highest level
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Nominal (categorical) scores - when a
score places people or things into a
category these are called nominal
scores. Nominal scores cannot be
ranked or ordered along any dimension.
The categories must be exhaustive and
mutually exclusive.
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Ordinal scores - means people or things
are rank ordered along some dimension.
No common unit of measurement exists
between rankings in a system of ordinal
scores. Comparisons cannot be made
across different group rankings.
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Interval scores - These scores have a
common unit of measurement between
adjacent points. No true zero point
exists on the interval scale.
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Ratio scores - These scores have a
common unit of measurement between
adjacent scores. Ratio scores have a
true zero point.
Standards for evaluation
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Standards set the bar for performance
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Norm referenced standards
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These kinds of standards are set by national,
regional, local data collections and are
determined by the number that the score is
better than.
Criterion referenced standards
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These kind of standards are set by national,
regional, local data collections. A passing
criterion or set of criteria are established in this
form of standardization.