Offers beginning researchers in psychology and education with limited statistics backgrounds a practical, hands-on guide to the preparation, assessment, and development of quantitative research instruments.

This book offers beginning researchers in psychology and education with limited statistics backgrounds a practical, hands-on guide to the preparation, assessment, and development of quantitative research instruments. With the explicit goal in mind of making the text accessible to readers with only a beginning level of statistical expertise, the authors include numerous examples and figures to illustrate necessary concepts and procedures, while minimizing jargon. The book includes an appendix with directions for the required statistical analyses for readers with access to SPSS. The organization of the book into two sections, theoretical and practical, with complementary chapters in each section, results in a practical and versatile resource to have in a variety of contexts. Because of its versatility, the book may be used either as a textbook for courses on test construction and instrument design or quantitative research methods in psychology and education, as a reference for researchers using and constructing quantitative instruments, or as background reading for professionals in related fields.

Chapter 1 Preface
Chapter 2 Introduction
Part 3 A. THEORETICAL TOPICS
Chapter 4 1A. WHAT ARE "TESTS FOR RESEARCH PURPOSES?"
Chapter 5 2A. THE END GOAL AS A FIRST CONSIDERATION
Chapter 6 3A. INSTRUMENT RELIABILITY
Chapter 7 4A. INSTRUMENT VALIDITY
Chapter 8 5A. ITEM ANALYSES
Chapter 9 6A. SOCIO-PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES
Part 10 B. EMPIRICAL TOPICS
Chapter 11 1B. DESIGNING YOUR INSTRUMENT; COMPONENTIALITY AND ITEM-TYPE
Chapter 12 2B. PREPARATION AND PRELIMINARY TESTING OF THE FIRST VERSION
Chapter 13 3B. ANALYZING VERSION I: ITEM STATISTICS AND INSTRUMENT RELIABILITY
Chapter 14 4B. ANALYZING VERSION II: ITEM STATISTICS, INSTRUMENT RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY
Chapter 15 5B. SEMI-FORMAL MEASUREMENT: VARIETIES OF CONTENT ANALYSIS
Chapter 16 6B. WHAT NEXT? BACK TO THE FUTURE
Chapter 17 Appendix A: Recommended Readings
Chapter 18 Appendix B: Instructions for Performing Necessary Statistical Procedures in SPSS
Chapter 19 Appendix C: Sample Data Set of Items and Scores for Self-Esteem Scale, Version 1
Chapter 20 References