Tests & Measurement for People Who (Think They) Hate Tests & Measurement [Paperback]

Neil J. Salkind (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 28, 2005 | ISBN-10: 1412913640 | ISBN-13: 978-1412913645 | Edition: 1

In this text, author Neil J. Salkind guides readers through the fundamentals of tests and measurement, using the conversational writing style and straightforward presentation techniques that has made his book Statistics for People Who (Think They) Hate Statistics a bestseller. Tests & Measurement For People Who (Think They) Hate Tests & Measurement provides an overview of the many different facets of testing including the design and use of tests and some of the basic social, political, and legal issues that the process of testing involves. This engaging text introduces students to advanced issues and explains why those topics are important.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"What is amazing about this text is how it takes some very difficult material (particularly around reliability and validity, z-scores, etc.) and makes it easily understandable by an undergraduate student. Just as in his statistics book, Salkind has a genius for conveying difficult material in everyday language that engages the reader. This is the perfect text for any research methods instructor who has struggled with making testing and measurement concepts both understandable and FUN." -- John Q. Hodges, University of Missouri, Columbia "The distinguishing factor with this book is the illustrative material. The "Tech Talk" boxes are helpful for students to quickly get the grasp of a concept and find it to review later. The new vocabulary in tests and measurements is often an obstacle, and these boxes help tremendously.... If there is a tests and measurements book that can enlighten and entertain, this book is the one." -- Joseph Matthews, Brigham Young University "The author does a wonderful job conveying concepts clearly and with panache. Undergraduate audiences will be able to follow but not be bored. The book has a strong, consistent voice and I really enjoyed this and felt well cared for as a reader. The discussion on reliability and validity, for example, is better integrated and therefore more useful than any methods text I have read.... It's true. I hate tests but I liked this book." -- Christopher P. Bettinger, San Francisco State University "Salkind's book may not make test-taking painless, but it certainly makes learning about tests and measurements less painful. The book is a simple, informative, and easy-to-read introduction to all the basics of what seemed previously to be a difficult subject." -- Denise von Herrmann, The University of Southern Mississippi"

About the Author

Neil J. Salkind is Professor Emeritus at the University of Kansas where he taught in the Department of Educational Psychology for more than 35 years. His interest is in writing about statistics and research methods in an informative, non-intimidating and non-condescending way and is also the author of Statistics for People Who (Think They) Hate Statistics, Statistics for People Who (Think They) Hate Statistics (the Excel Edition), Excel Statistics: A Quick Guide, Encyclopedia of Research Design, and 100 Questions (and Answers) about Research Methods, all with SAGE.

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Sage Publications, Inc; 1 edition (September 28, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1412913640
• ISBN-13: 978-1412913645
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #427,226 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Neil J. Salkind received his Ph.D. from the University of Maryland in the Institute for Child Study and has been a faculty member at the University of Kansas for 33 years. He has published over 80 professional papers, and is the author of several college level textbooks including Statistics for People Who (Think They) Hate Statistics, Theories of Human Development and Tests and Measurements for People Who (Think They) Hate Tests and Measurements. He was editor of Child Development Abstracts and Bibliography for 13 years and also works as a literary agent for Studio B. When he's not typing away, he enjoys reading, collecting signed first editions, cooking, competitive Masters swimming, chocolate in almost any form and working on vintage Volvos and living with Leni.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Pretty basic, June 13, 2008

By 

JVerkuilen (BAYSIDE, NY, United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Tests & Measurement for People Who (Think They) Hate Tests & Measurement (Hardcover)

This book is pretty basic and would be best for undergrads or masters students who have little or no background in statistics but need to know a little something about testing. Salkind's writing style is informal and inviting and thus reassuring for people who "Think they hate" the subject, but it thereby glosses over a lot of details. I teach doctoral level students but have taught this material to advanced undergraduates in the past. Spring 2008 I used it as an supplement to Allen & Yen and my own course notes. It turned out that the ones who I selected this book for (applied nontechnical types such as school psychologists) pretty much knew everything in this book already before starting the class, while the more technically savvy ones could infer it from the main text. For doctoral students, learning the psychometrics "for real" i.e., with equations and real data to work with, is essential. While they don't always like it, it's important if they are going to be building scales or using them in a critical way. (In my view, hiding all the details of a mathematical subject like test theory does the students no favors no matter what their level, but I understand the difference between student levels and demands of different programs.) There is a bit of classical test theory and classical item analysis and a lot of words about various item formats, ranging from constructed response, varieties of multiple choice, to interviews, some of which are quite sensible and others seem strange to me as a psychometrician, e.g., the author's preference for matching items, which must entail a substantial degree of local dependence and for which there is, to my knowledge, no straightforward model-based analysis. The presentation here is rather laundry-list and could benefit from being more systematic, but again, that might be too hard for the target audience. There is also some nice discussion about testing ethics and the like, much of which could be given to students by having them read the relevant APA/AERA standards documents, though of course at the cost of likely boredom on their part.

5.0 out of 5 stars Tests & Measurement for People Who (Think They) Hate Tests & Measurement, January 14, 2012

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Sarah Serkowski (Libertyville, IL) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Tests & Measurement for People Who (Think They) Hate Tests & Measurement (Paperback)

The product came fast and there was no highlighting at all in the book. Also processed my order very fast.

5.0 out of 5 stars Very basic and easy to understand., November 12, 2011

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E. Reph (Nowhere USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Tests & Measurement for People Who (Think They) Hate Tests & Measurement (Paperback)

I am taking my first Pyschometrics course in graduate school. This text makes it very easy to understand the concepts... and there are a lot of them. Salkind is thorough without bogging down the text with information that should be left for a second, more in depth volume of the book. Hopefully, Salkind decides to put out a second edition because there are many typo errors that his editor should have caught. Nonetheless, the information is presented straightforward and is an excellent resource for the beginning psychometrician.