Customer Reviews

Tests and Assessment, 4th Edition

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I am a Ph.D. student studying measurement, and this textbook is--by far--the worst measurement textbook that I have yet encountered. This textbook is completely unsuitable for giving students the skills they need to evaluate tests independently and be smart test consumers.

The vanilla prose has far fewer references to the professional research literature than most social science textbooks and the authors draw too much of their reviews of tests from the test manuals themselves. When the authors do draw from the literature it is frequently terrible outdated, with roughly a third coming from before 1980.

Moreover, they do not tackle major issues in testing (like profile analysis or the Flynn effect) or they mention them very shallowly (such as the validity of the Rorschach). Psychometrics are glossed over, and their meaning is often distorted (i.e., the authors say that tests are reliable and not scores).

If you're looking for a psychometrics refresher, avoid this book. If you're teaching a class on testing this next semester, find another textbook. This one will not meet your needs.

Highly recommended. This text is encyclopedic. As an MFT, I used the book more by itself than in conjunction with an overview class. Want to learn about the "discredited" TAT or Rorschach Inkblot? Great--this unbiased book has extensive information on ALL major tests, which will enable effective research in other sources. I was able to use this text to intelligently confer with professors, constructing a more modern, TAT-like test for the specific population I work with.

I am the director of secondary school student teachers at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Missouri. I have found this text to give very comprehensive and practical information about educational tests and assessments. It includes samples of tests and test results. It also explains test interpretation in a practical way.