LibGuides: Education: A Guide to Library Research: Tests &amp; Measures

Introduction

Finding a test or measurement instrument can be challenging at times and requires patience. You will likely need to consult several different resources, online databases and books but don't give up! The resources in this guide are meant to guide you through this process. If you need additional help please contact a librarian.

Remember: Always seek permission from a test's author before using the test unless it is stated explicitly that permission is not required.

Background Information

The Library has online access to the Encyclopedia of Psychological Assessment. Consider using this resource for background information. It does not provide the tests themselves but offers articles and descriptions of many well-known tests.

Encyclopedia of Psychological Assessment by Rocio Fernandez-Ballesteros (Editor)
Each entry includes a general conceptual and methodological overview, a section on relevant assessment devices, followed by links to related concepts in the Encyclopedia and a list of references.

Find a test by name or topic

Unpublished

Unpublished or noncommercial tests or measurements are not available commercially but may be included in articles, studies and dissertations. These tests are also under copyright and you should request permission to use these tests by contacting the author(s).

If you are looking for a specific test and have some idea of the name of the test, here are some ways to search for the test:

PsycInfo, PsycArticles, & more
Go to Advanced Search. Enter the name of the test in the first search box, putting the title in quotes if you are sure of the name. Change the field (dropdown) to TM Tests & Measures. In the second search box put in the word "appended."

Look at the results carefully since the study might have used more than one test and might not have appended all of them to the article.
Health & Psychosocial Instruments (HAPI)
Go to Advanced Search. Enter the name of the test in the search box and change the dropdown field to TI Title. If you are using an acronym, change the field to AC Acronym.

If the full text is available, check and see if the measurement instrument is included. Entries that are listed as "primary source" are more likely to contain the actual test since primary sources are the original sources where the test was first mentioned. You can limit to primary source documents in Advanced Search - Source Code.

To obtain a measurement instrument listed in HaPI that is not included in the article, you can also try contacting the author.
ERIC and Supplemental Education Index
Go to Advanced Search. Enter the name of the test in the search box, putting the title in quotes if you are sure of the name. Below the search box choose Document Type 160: Tests/Questionnaires.

Check the search results carefully to make sure that the appended documents include the specific test you want.
ERIC is also available via EBSCOhost and the U.S. Department of Education (open access version).

This database is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education to provide extensive access to education-related literature. ERIC provides coverage of journal articles, conferences, meetings, government documents, theses, dissertations, reports, audiovisual media, bibliographies, directories, books and monographs.

Covers:
- Adult, career and vocational education
- Counseling
- Elementary & early childhood education
- Education management
- Higher education, including junior colleges
- Second-language learning
- Special education
- Teacher education
- Tests, measurement, & evaluation
Many ERIC Documents are online in ERIC, and older ones are available on microfiche on the 1st floor of the Thompson Library.
Supplemental Education Index is the ideal companion to ERIC. It covers key scholarly journals essential for students and researchers of education.
Supplemental Education Index is an ideal complement to ERIC, allowing researchers and students additional coverage of education literature. It primarily includes scholarly journals, all of which are indexed with the ERIC vocabulary. Combined with ERIC, it is a powerful tool for education research.
ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global
Put the name of the test in the search box in quotes and include NEAR/3 appendi*. NEAR is a proximity operator which looks for words on either side of the other word and with a specified maximum number of words between them. That number (3 in the example) can be whatever you choose.

This search will look for any dissertations that have the name of the test within three words of the word appendix or appendices. Often you can go right to the Table of Contents of the dissertation to check and see if the test you want is included in an appendix.
Indexing & authors' abstracts for most doctoral dissertations and some masters theses accepted each year in the United States and Canada (since 1861), plus thousands more from Great Britain and Ireland (since 1716), and selected other universities around the world (as far back as 1637). Includes full-text (in PDF) of most* dissertations submitted at University of Michigan and many other universities since 1997.
The artificial intelligence tool ProQuest Research Assistant is included in this database. It generates additional search terms; for most dissertations, it generates the key takeaway, additional topics discussed, the relationship to your search terms, and can brainstorm related research topics and describe the important concepts of the dissertation.
- ProQuest Research Assistant: FAQs
- Clarivate Academia & Government - Use of Generative AI
* Two factors cause a certain percentage of dissertations not to be included:
1) Increasingly, universities are requiring that doctoral degree candidates deposit their dissertations into the university's online repository, and are changing submission to ProQuest from a requirement to an option. For example, as of 2012, the University of Michigan requires deposit of dissertations into its Deep Blue Documents online repository, and no longer requires submission to ProQuest. To the extent that authors elect not to submit their dissertations to ProQuest, its listings for dissertations are becoming gradually less complete over time. (Its listings for dissertations filed at U-M have declined from being about 80% complete for 2012 to only about 25% to 20% complete for 2013 and 2014, respectively.)
2) Authors of dissertations have the right to restrict access to the full text of their dissertation from all ProQuest databases and document delivery services if they so choose. Some publishers recommend or require blocking of access to the full text of a dissertation as a condition of publishing a revised version of a dissertation as a scholarly book.
PsycTests
*For full functionality, select APA PsycTESTS ONLY from the "Select Databases" dropdown* - You can search by keyword, by test title or author, among other options. If you know the name of the test, enter it in the search box with quotes around the name if it is longer than one word. Change the search field to Title.

About half of the entries in PsycTests include the full text of the test - check the box for "Test Available." The entries also include the affiliation and address for the author(s) so you might be able to get a copy of the test by contacting the author(s). Make sure you pay attention to the Permissions, this is also a filter in Advanced Search.
PsycTESTS is a research database that provides access to psychological tests, measures, scales, surveys, and other assessments as well as descriptive information about the test and its development and administration. More information:
- Focuses primarily on unpublished tests, those developed by researchers but not made commercially available.
- Most records link to a variety of materials describing the test in peer-reviewed literature, technical reports, or dissertations as well as links to related peer-reviewed literature describing test development, review, or use.
- All records include a summary that describes the test, with its purpose and some history of its development.
- Most records include the actual test instrument
- Covers 1910 to present. 51% of entries are from 2000 and later; 73% are from 1990 and later.
- This database can also be searched together with PsycARTICLES and PsycINFO.

Published

Published or commercial tests and measurements are available for purchase from the test publisher. Certification or permission from the publisher and author(s) may be required to administer these tests.

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Education: A Guide to Library Research

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Introduction

Background Information

Find a test by name or topic

Unpublished

Published