The purpose of this class is for you to acquire the necessary knowledge and skills required to develop and evaluate psychological measures aimed at differentiating between and among people. This is basically a quantitative course. I will be using a lecture format, with examples, but it is important that all assignments be read before class. I will also be giving homework assignments covering the various concepts and techniques to be covered. I am assuming that you have had a basic survey course in psychological testing (e.g.,Anastasi or Cronbach). If you have not had this type of course it may make my job a little more difficult and your life a little more busy.

Psychological measurement is a broad area with a long history and many techniques. A single course can only help you with the mainstream issues and approaches. There will be one major text, two booklets, and supplemental readings. The readings are to serve two purposes; depth in an area and additional resource materials for more complex issues. Please read all these materials for the lectures. Tests will assume that you have done the readings. As is true of most quantitative courses, you must understand and be able to apply the correct techniques and procedures to a body of data and then interpret the results. The midterm and final exams are intended to test your ability to do this. All exams will be open book, readings, and notes and you may bring in a calculator if you desire (I will try to keep the computations to the minimum).

Given the time pressures of an exam, it is sometimes difficult for me to totally determine your abilities. Therefore, I require a project. The project allows you to apply the materials you have learned to a specific problem. There are separate instructions for the project.

Finally, it is impossible for me to cover all the techniques and approaches you might need or want. It is, therefore, important that you be able to read and understand the literature in the area. The final requirement in the course is for a small paper (about 5 pages). There are also separate instructions for the paper.

The weights given to the various requirements are listed below along with dates.

MIDTERM--- OCTOBER 13 (30%)
FINAL--- DECEMBER 15 (35%)
PROJECT--- DECEMBER 15 (15%)
PAPER--- DECEMBER 15 (15%)
HOMEWORK-- AS ASSIGNED (5%)

Exercises  Click here to get to the Exercises

NOTE: THE EXAMS WILL ONLY COVER ONE-HALF (EACH) OF THE COURSE.

Ronald G. Downey, 226 Anderson Hall, Telephone - 532-5712. Please make arrangements to see me in my Anderson Office (just call and make an appointment).

American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association and National Council on Measurement in Education (1985). Standards for educational and psychological testing. Washington, D. C.: Author. ** 1 **

Angoff, W. H. (1971). Scales, norms, and equivalent scores. In R. C. Thorndike (Ed.), Educational measurement (2nd ed.). Washington, D. C.: American Council on Education. ** 2 **

Cohen, J. (1968). Multiple regression as a general data analytic system. Psychological Bulletin, 1968, 70, 426-443. ** 3 **

Crocker, L., & Algina, J. (1986). Introduction to classical and modern test theory. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston. ** 4 **

Cronbach,, L.J., Glesen, G. C., Nanda, H., & Ragaratnan, N. (1972). The dependability of behavioral measurements: Theory of generalizability for scores and profiles. New York: Wiley, 1972. ** 5 **

Guion, R. M., & Ironson, G. H. (1983). Latent trait theory for organizational research. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 31, 54-87. ** 6 **

Hambleton, R. K., & Swaminathan, H. (1985). Item response theory: Principles and applications. Boston: Kluwer-Nijhoff. ** 7 **

Hambleton, R. K., Swaminathan, H., Algina, J., & Coulson,, D. B. (1978). Criterion-referenced testing and measurement: A review of technical issues and developments. Review of Educational Research, 48, 1-47. ** 8 **

Lord, R. M. (1953). On the statistical treatment of football numbers. American Psychologist, 8, 750-751. ** 9 **

Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (1980). Principles for the validation and use of personnel selection procedures (2nd ed.). College Park, MD: Author. ** 10 **

Stanley, J. C. (1971). Reliability. In R.L. Thorndike (Ed.), Educational Measurement (2nd ed.). Washington, D. C.: American Council on Education, 1971. ** 11 **

Stanley, J. C., & Wang, M. E. (1971). Weighting test items and test-item options, an overview of the analytical and empirical literature. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 30, 21-35. ** 12 **

Stevens, S. S. (1974). Measurement. In G. M. Maranell (Ed.). Scaling: A sourcebook for behavioral scientists. Chicago, Ill.: Aldine Publishing Co. ** 13 **

The project for the class is intended to give you the necessary experience to be able to apply the measurement techniques you have learned in the class to a specific problem with real data. It is one thing to learn the materials with examples and another to cope with the slings and arrows of DIRTY DATA. The project requirements are as follows:

(1). Projects are to be done by each individual.

(2). Projects must be the analysis of actual data.

(3). The outline for the project paper is ---

(a). Short statement of the problem (reference as necessary).
(b). Method section.
(c). Results section, including tables.
(d). Discussion and conclusion section.
(e). References.
(f). Appendices, use for extensive tables (e.g., item
statistics, copies of the "tests", etc.).

(4). I must approve all project topics and they must be in by October 27.

(5). Possible projects include:

(6). I will provide a review of the project report with comments, if I receive a draft on or before the 1st of December. I will return drafts to you by the 8th of December. I will grade all project reports with the standards I would expect after I had reviewed them.

(7). The draft project report is due the 1st of December and the final report on the 15th December.

The purpose of the paper is to give you the experience and background necessary to research a special topic in measurement on your own. This includes increasing your knowledge of the appropriate and special terms and languages as well as an in-depth look at a special measurement problem. The course is too short to cover all the possible topics and the field is too dynamic for you to expect that you will not have to do work in the future to deal with a special problem. The paper should deal, if at all possible, with a topic that is of special interest to you and would be helpful to you in your own research program. The major requirements for the paper are:

(1). The paper should be approximately 5 pages long, excluding the references and other non-text materials.

STATEMENTS FOR ACADEMIC ACCOMMODATIONS FOR DISABLED STUDENTS
 
"If you have any condition, such as a physical or learning
disability, which will make it difficult for you to carry out the
work as I have outlined it or which will require academic
accommodations, please notify me in the first two weeks of the
course."
                      or
"Any student with a disability who needs an accommodation or other
assistance in this course should make an appointment to speak with me
as soon as possible."
 
NOTE:  If a student requests an accommodation for which you need
assistance, or if you believe that documentation of the disability is
needed, the student should be referred to Gretchen Holden, Director
of Disabled Student Services located in Holton Hall.If you have
questions about the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) or  KSU's
responsibilities for compliance, you may want to contact : 
Jane D. Rowlett
Director of Unclassified Affairs and University Compliance
E-Mail: jrowlet@ksu.edu
Phone: 532-4392
Anderson Hall, Room 112 

STATEMENT REGARDING ACADEMIC HONESTY
 
"Plagiarism and cheating are serious offenses and may be punished by
failure on the exam, paper or project; failure in the course; and/or
expulsion from the university. For more information refer to Appendix
F in the Faculty Handbook."

NOTE:  The Undergraduate Honor System Policy was passed
by Faculty Senate on April 14, 1998.  This policy is on the
Provost's home page at http://www.ksu.edu/facsen/policy/honorcod.htm