Educational Instruments
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1. Educational instruments measure theoretical constructs like cognitive ability or attitudes that are not directly observable. There are three main types: cognitive, affective, and projective instruments. 2. Cognitive instruments measure academic attainment through achievement and aptitude tests. Affective instruments assess feelings, values, and attitudes using scales and inventories. Projective instruments reveal responses to ambiguous stimuli. 3. Validity and reliability are important issues in using instruments. Validity indicates how well an instrument measures its intended construct, while reliability refers to an instrument's consistency in measurement.
Educational Instruments
- 2. INSTRUMENTS… Instruments: Collections of items or questions intended to measure, collectively (total score) levels of theoretical variables (constructs) not easily observable directly.
- 3. THE TYPES OF INSTRUMENTS… 1. Cognitive Instruments 2. Affective Instruments 3. Projective Instruments
- 4. 1. COGNITIVE INSTRUMENTS... Measure an individual’s attainment in academic areas typically used to diagnose strengths and weaknesses
- 5. TYPES OF COGNITIVE INSTRUMENTS... 1. Achievement tests …provide information about how well the test takers have learned what they have been taught in school …achievement is determined by comparing it to the norm, the performance of a national group of norm similar students who have taken the same test
- 6. 2. Aptitude tests …measure the intellect and abilities not normally taught and often are used to predict future performance …typically provide an overall score, a verbal score, and a quantitative score
- 7. 2. AFFECTIVE INSTRUMENTS... Measure characteristics of individuals along a number of dimensions and to assess feelings, values, and attitudes toward self, others, and a variety of other activities, institutions, and situations
- 8. TYPES OF AFFECTIVE INSTRUMENTS... 1. attitude scales …self-reports of an individual’s beliefs, perceptions, or feelings about self, others, and a variety of activities, institutions, and situations …frequently use Likert, semantic differential, Thurstone , or Guttman scales
- 9. 2. values tests …measure the relative strength of an individual’s valuing of theoretical, economic, aesthetic, social, political, and religious values
- 10. 3. Personality inventories …an individual’s self-report measuring how behaviors characteristic of defined personality traits describe that individual
- 11. 3. PROJECTIVE INSTRUMENTS... Measure a respondent’s feelings or thoughts to an ambiguous stimulus
- 12. PRIMARY TYPE OF PROJECTIVE TEST... 1. Associational tests …participants react to a stimulus such as a picture, inkblot or word onto which they project a description
- 13. STEPS IN CONSTRUCTING AN INSTRUMENT 1) Determine clearly what it is you want to measure. 2) Generate a pool of possible items (about 60 for a 20 item instrument). 3) Decide on question format (yes/no, strongly agree, agree, etc) 4) Decide how to score the instrument (e.g. on an optimism scale, all responses that indicate optimism should get higher scores, so that the more optimistic you are, the higher your total score). 5) Administer the instrument to a pilot sample of people: 100 - 300. 6) Scale purification: Evaluate each item using the pilot data
- 14. RULES GOVERNING THE SELECTION INSTRUMENTS... 1. The highest validity 2. The highest reliability 3. The greatest ease of administration, scoring, and interpretation 4. Test takers’ lack of familiarity with instrument 5. Avoids potentially controversial matters
- 15. SELECTING AN INSTRUMENT... 1. Determine precisely the type of instrument needed 2. Identify and locate appropriate instruments 3. Compare and analyze instruments 4. Select best instrument
- 16. ADMINISTERING THE INSTRUMENT... 1. Make arrangements in advance 2. Ensure ideal testing environment 3. Be prepared for all probable contingencies
- 17. TWO ISSUES IN USING INSTRUMENTS... 1. Validity: the degree to which the Validity instrument measures what it purports to measure 2. Reliability: the degree to which the Reliability instrument consistently measures what it purports to measure
- 18. TERMS ASSOCIATED WITH INSTRUMENTS 1. DATA 2. CONSTRUCTS 3. VARIABLE 4. RAW SCORES 5. MEASUREMENT SCALES
- 19. Data… Data …the pieces of information researchers collect through instruments to examine a topic or hypothesis
- 20. Constructs… Constructs …abstractions of behavioral factors that cannot be observed directly and which researchers invent to explain behavior
- 21. Variable… Variable …a construct that can take on two or more values or scores
- 22. Raw scores… scores …the number of items an individual scored on an instrument
- 23. Measurement scales… scales …the representation of variables so that they can be quantified
- 24. MEASUREMENT SCALES... Qualitative (categorical) Nominal variables “categorical”: classifies persons or objects into two or more categories
- 25. MEASUREMENT SCALES... Quantitative (continuous) ( 1. Ordinal variables “order”: classifies persons or objects and ranks them in terms of the degree to which those persons or objects possess a characteristic of interest 2. Interval variables ranks, orders, and classifies persons or objects according to equal differences with no true zero point 3. Ratio variables ranks, orders, classifies persons or objects according to equal differences with a true zero point