GENERAL MEASUREMENT
CONCEPTS
ELEMENTS OF SCORE ANALYSIS
• TYPES OF SCORES
• COMMON UNIT OF MEASURE
• THREE STEPS OF ANALYZING A SET OF
SCORES
• CALCULATORS AND COMPUTERS
WHY ANALYSIS TEST SCORES?
“FOR A LARGE GROUP A SIMPLE LIST
OF SCORES HAS NO MEANING”
“OVERALL GROUP PERFORMANCE
AND/OR IMPROVEMENT CAN ONLY BE
INTERPRETED BY CONDENSING THE
INFORMATION AND APPLYING
DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS TO IT”
WHY ANALYSIS TEST SCORES?
“ONCE THE OVERALL GROUP
PERFORMANCE IS DETERMINED,
INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE CAN
THEN BE EVALUATED IN
RELATION IN RELATION TO THE
OVERALL GROUP PERFORMANCE”
TYPES OF SCORES
• CONTINUOUS SCORES
• DISCRETE SCORES
CONTINUOUS SCORES
• HAVE POTENTIALLY AN INFINITE
NUMBER OF VALUES AS THEY CAN BE
MEASURED WITH VARYING DEGREES
OF ACCURACY
• BETWEEN ANY TWO VALUES EXIST
COUNTLESS VALUES THAT CAN BE
EXPRESSRED AS FRACTIONS
• EXAMPLES: TIME, WEIGHT, & LENGTH
CONTINUOUS SCORES
• MOST CONTINUOUS SCORES ARE
ROUNDED OFF TO THE NEAREST
UNIT OF MEASUREMENT WHEN
RECORDED
• 5 OR MORE IS ROUNDED UP AND 4
OR LESS IS ROUNDED DOWN
• EXAMPLE ROUNDING TO A WHOLE
NUMBER: 1.6 = 2; 1.4 = 1
DISCRETE SCORES
• LIMETED TO A SPECIFIC NUMBER
OF VALUES
• ARE NOT EXPRESSED IN
FRACTIONS
• EXAMPLES - FREE THROWS MADE
IN BASKETBALL OR SUCCESSFUL
THROWS AT A TARGET
OTHER CLASSIFICATION OF SCORES
•
•
•
•
RATIO
INTERVAL
ORDINAL
NOMINAL
RATIO SCORES
• COMMON UNIT OF MEASUREMENT
BETWEEN EACH SCORE
• TRUE ZERO POINT
• STATEMENTS ABOUT EQUALITY
OF RATIOS CAN BE MADE: 1 SCORE
CAN BE REFERRED TO AS 2 TIMES
GREATER THAN ANOTHER SCORE
• EXAMPLES INCLUDE DISTANCE,
TIME, WEIGHT, AND LENGTH
INTERVAL SCORES
• COMMON UNIT OF MEASUREMENT
BETWEEN EACH SCORE
• NO TRUE ZERO (A SCORE OF ZERO
ON A KNOWLEDGE TEST DOES NOT
INDICATE TOTAL LACK OF
KNOWLEDGE) AND HENCE
STATEMENTS ABOUT EQUALITY
OF RATIOS CAN NOT BE MADE
“MOST PHYSICAL PEFORMANCE
SCORES ARE EITHER RATIO OR
INTERVAL SCORES”
ORDINAL SCORES
• DO NOT HAVE A COMMON UNIT OF
MEASUREMENT BETWEEN SCORES AND
DO NOT HAVE A TRUE ZERO
• THERE IS AN ORDER IN THE SCORES
THAT MAKES IT POSSIBLE TO DESCRIBE
OR LIST ONE SCORE HIGHER THAN THE
OTHER SCORE
• EXAMPLE: CLASS RANK ON A PUSH-UP
TEST
NOMINAL SCORES
• CANNOT BE RANKED ORDER
• MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE SCORES
• CANNOT SAY THAT ONE SCORE IS
BETTER THAN ANOTHER SCORE
• EXAMPLES: SPORT PREFERENCE,
GENDER, AND ETHNICITY
COMMON UNITS OF MEASURE
• SCORES MUST BE RECORDED IN A
SINGLE UNIT OF MEASUREMENT SUCH
AS CENTIMETERS RATHER THAN
METERS AND CENTIMETERS
• USUALLY RECORDED IN THE SMALLER
ONE SUCH AS CENTIMETERS
• RECORDING SCORES IN THE SMALLER
UNIT OF MEASURE AS THEY ARE
COLLECTED IS LESS TIME-CONSUMING
THAN CONVERTING THEM INTO THAT
FORM LATER
SELECTING A CRITERION
SCORE
MEAN SCORE VERSUS BEST SCORE
• CRITERION SCORE IS THE
MEASURE USED TO INDICATE A
PERSON’S ABILITY
• GENERALLY A BETTER INDICATOR
WHEN DEVELOPED FROM MORE
THAN 1 TRIAL (I.E., MEAN SCORE
FROM MORE THAN 1 TRIAL)
• RELIABILITY INCREASES AS THE
NUMBER OF MEASURES
INCREASES
MEAN SCORE VERSUS BEST SCORE
• GENERALLY THE MOST RELIABILE
CRITERION SCORE AND THE BEST
INDICATOR OF TRUE ABILITY
(TYPICAL PERFORMANCE) MAY BE
THE MEAN SCORE OF MULTIPLE
TRIALS AS THE SUM OF THE
ERRORS OF MEASURMENT IS ZERO
• NOTE: OBSERVED SCORE EQUALS
TRUE SCORE PLUS ERROR SCORE
MEAN SCORE VERSUS BEST SCORE
• FOR MULTIPLE-TRIAL PHYSICAL
PERFORMANCE TESTS WHERE MAXIMAL
ABILITY RATHER THAN TYPICAL ABILITY IS
DESIRED, AND THE EQUIPMENT AND SCORING
PROCEDURE ARE HIGHLY ACCURATE, THE
BEST SCORE IS THE BEST INDICATOR OF A
PERSON’S TRUE ABILITY AS A PERSON
CANNOT SCORE BETTER THAN HER OR HIS
PHYSIOLOGICAL CAPACITY
• TYPICAL OF MANY PHYSIOLOGICAL
MEASUREMENTS TAKEN IN A LABORATORY
SETTING)
MEAN SCORE VERSUS BEST SCORE
• IF THE BEST SCORE IS USED AS
THE CRITERION SCORE:
- IT SHOULD BE BASED ON
MULTIPLE TRIALS
- IT IS NOT THE SAME TRIAL FOR
EACH PERSON
MEAN SCORE VERSUS BEST SCORE
• DEPEDNING ON THE SITUATION AND WHAT THE
TEST ADMINISTRATOR BELIEVES IS MOST
APPROPRIATE, AN INDIVIDUAL’S CRITERION
SCORE FROM MULTIPLE TRIAL TESTS MAY BE
DETERMINED IN ANY OF THE FOLLOWING WAYS:
MEAN OF ALL TRIAL SCORES
BEST SCORE OF ALL TRIAL SCORES
MEAN OF THE SELECTED TRIAL
SCORES BASED ON THE TRIALS ON
WHICH THE GROUP SCORED BEST
MEAN OF THE SELECTED TRIAL
SCORES BASED ON THE TRIALS ON
WHICH THE INDIVIDUAL SCORED
BEST
THREE STEPS OF ANALYZING A
SET OF TEST SCORES
• SELECT THE APPROPRIATE
ANALYSIS TECHNIQUE
• COMPLETE CALCULATIONS WITH
THE ANALSYS TECHNIQUE
• INTERPRET THE RESULTS OF THE
ANALYSIS TECHNIQUE
CALCULATORS AND COMPUTERS
• SCORE ANALYSIS SHOULD BE
ACCURATE AND QUICK
• CALCULATORS WORK WELL WITH
SMALL DATA SETS; BUT WITH LARGER
DATA SETS THE USE OF CALCULATORS
BECOME MORE TIME-CONSUMING AND
MORE MISTAKES TEND TO BE MADE
• COMPUTERS WITH DATA ANALYSIS
SOFTWARE SUCH AS SPSS ARE VERY
FAST AND ACCURATE
QUESTIONS
OR
COMMENTS??