Constructing Test Items

Abstract

This book addresses major issues included in constructing test items by focusing on four ideas. First, this book describes characteristics and functions of test items. Characteristics of test items involve classifying and describing test items by various item formats, that is, the depiction of test items as multiple-choice, true-false, matching, or some other type. It also includes problems of definition, terminology, and identification of relevant assumptions. Conjoined with characteristics of test items is an understanding of the various functions they serve in measurement, along with an awareness of their limitations and some familiarity with alternatives to test items in measurement. A second feature of this book is the presentation of editorial guidelines for writing test items in all of the commonly used item formats. A third aspect of this book is the presentation of methods for determining the quality of test items. A fourth component of this book is the presentation of a compendium of important issues about test items. Some examples of issues discussed in this compendium are procedures for ordering items in a test, ethical and legal concerns for using copyrighted test items, item scoring schemes, and more. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)