Test Critique

1) Select an assessment measuring a construct that interests you.

2) Identify at least 2 sources of information about the construct. This information can come
from:
a. MMY Review - The Mental Measurement Yearbook found in the Library (from
the Library webpage, select “M” from the “Articles and Databases” section, then
select “Mental Measurements Yearbook Online”.)
b. Seminal Article - In the scholarly literature, find the seminal article describing
the assessment’s psychometric properties and utility (usually by the author(s) of
the test).
c. Psychometric Article- Find an article describing the psychometric properties of
the instrument is acceptable. As a final alternative, an article using a measure in a
counseling-related setting is also acceptable.
d. Test Manual – If you use an existing measure that we have available in the clinic,
you may use the test manual. Note that if you use the test manual, you may not
also use a MMY review, as the MMY review is a summary of the test manual.

3) Using the review and the one article, write a 3-5 page paper critiquing the assessment’s
psychometric properties and its utility in practice and research. Use APA format for your
paper.

- First, describe the instrument

o What is the construct/s being measured, including subscales?
o Number of items and item format
o How is it administered? How is it scored?
o What is the intended population? Any inappropriate populations?

- Then describe it’s psychometric properties

o Reliability of scores (including subscales). Test/Retest, Inter-rater,
Cronbach’s alpha
o Validity of Scores (Construct (Convergent/Discriminant), Content,
Predictive, etc.)

- For what counseling applications is the measure appropriate?

- For what research applications is the measure appropriate?

Test Critique Grading Criteria

Name____________________

__/ 3 Appropriate measure Selected

__/ 2 Appropriate article selected

__/ 2 Describes constructs (and subscales)

__/ 1 Describes # of items

__/ 1 Describes item format

__/ 2 Describes administration procedure

__/ 2 Describes scoring procedure

__/ 1 Describes intended population

__/ 1 Describes inappropriate populations

__/ 5 Reliability evidence

__/ 5 Validity evidence

__/ 5 Counseling applications

__/ 5 Research Applications

__/ 5 APA style

__ / 40 = ____ % total