Psychology: Tests and Measures: Finding Tests in Databases

PsyINFO (Ovid)

In the Ovid version of PsycINFO available through Milner Library, conduct a search for the title or type of test you seek. Then conduct a keyword search for the word "appended." Combine your results sets with the AND operator. Your results will include citations to articles with some type of materials appended, oftentimes test instruments.

Example:

• Conduct a keyword search for your subject, e.g., post traumatic stress disorder. Use the mapping function. Map your search to the subject term Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and conduct the search.

• Conduct a keyword search for the word appended. Do not use the mapping function.

• Combine the two retrieval sets using the AND operator.

• Review your results, and use FindIt to locate the articles or books of interest.

PsycINFO has a convenient Tests & Measures limiter as well. Using the Tests & Measures limiter restricts your results to articles or books about a test instrument and eliminates articles and books about research that uses an instrument but are about some other topic. Using the Tests & Measures limiter does not limit results to articles or books that include copies of test instruments.

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Sometimes copies of tests or measurements can be found using the ERIC database.  One caveat--many of the citations you locate will be for ERIC Documents, and many of the ERIC Documents have been temporarily taken down due to privacy concerns.

Example:

• To use the EBSCO ERIC interface for finding measures or descriptions of measures, enter your keyword(s) in the first search box, e.g., reading, and leave the pull-down menu to the right  as is.  

• In the next search box type, (test* or measure* or questionnaire* or scale* or survey* or assessment*)  and select Abstract from the pull-down menu to the right.

• In the third search box, type and appended and select Abstract from the pull-down menu to the right.  

• Now execute the search by clicking the Search button. A specific test name can be substituted for keywords in the first search box as well.

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Doctoral students often create instruments for their own research. You can use the Digital Dissertations database to search for tests that may be contained in the appendixes of dissertations. When searching Digital Dissertations, you can use the combination of tests, measure, or instrument along with you subject inquiry. Then check the abstracts of the citations to see if a test or measurement is mentioned.  Remember that the writer of the dissertation holds copyright and will need to be contacted for permission.  Also, keep in mind issues of reliability and validity.

Example:

•  Type your topic in the first search box (e.g., video games)
  
  
•  Type any additional topics in the second search box.
  
  
•  In the third search box, type in a combination of terms such as test OR measure OR instrument OR survey

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Beginning in 1994, CINAHL began indexing research instruments as a publication type. However, other CINAHL records may also include information about research instruments. To find a work that is a published research instrument, search for a Publication Type of RESEARCH INSTRUMENT. This indicates the work indexed is actually a research instrument.

Some of the instruments are included full text, others are not.  If the test is not available full text, ordering and copyright information are included.

Example:

• In the first search box, type in the term for your topic, for example self esteem, and the the drop-box to the right as is.

• in the next search box, type Research Instrument and use the drop box to select PT Publication Type.

• Now execute the search by clicking on the Search button.

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