PRINCIPLES IN

TEST
CONSTRUCTION
A. ACCORDING TO
THE MANNER OF
RESPONSE
 1. ORAL EXAMINATION
This type of examination is
answered verbally such as
interview, recitation in the
classroom, and defense of
thesis and dissertation.
 2. WRITTEN EXAMINATION

This is a paper and

pencil test which is also
a widely used form of
test.
3. PERFORMANCE OR PRACTICAL EXAMINATION

This type of test is

accomplished by actual
doing where the skills of the
individual are measured.
B. ACCORDING TO
METHOD OF
PREPARATION
1. UNSTANDARDIZED TEST OR TEACHER-MADE TEST

 The items or contents of the test are based on

the topic discussed and is not empirically
selected.

 It has no set of norms and is not subjected to

any statistical procedure.

 Ex. Quizzes, periodical/quarterly exams

 2. STANDARDIZED TEST
 Test under this type follows the principles of
test construction.

 The content or the items have been checked

empirically, the norms have been established
and it is highly objective.

 A manual of instructions for its

administrations, scoring and interpretation of
the results are enclosed.
 STANDARDIZED
MEASURING
INSTRUMENT
POSSESSES THE
FOLLOWING CRITERIA:
 2.1 OBJECTIVITY

 Is the degree to which the test is free from any

personal opinion.

 The answers to the questions are based on

facts.

 The items are so worded that only one item is

required.
 2.2 ADMINISTRABILITY
Is the degree to which test
possesses a clear, concise,
simple and direct instruction.
The test can be administered
by any person even without
special training in testing.
 2.3 SCORABILITY

Refers to the simplest way of

checking and scoring the
test, key are enclosed in the
package when buying a
standardized test.
 2.4 ECONOMY
It refers to the cheapest way of
giving a test.
Questionnaires are usually
separated from the answer
and are replaced every time
the test is used.
 2.5 UTILITY

Refers to the quantity of the

test to which it satisfactorily
serves definite needs in
situation in which it is used.
 2.6 ADEQUACY
It is the quality of the test
where in the items, were
carefully selected, wide
sampling of items were done
before it was put to its final
form.
 2.7 VALIDITY

It refers to the degree to

which the test measures
what it aims or intends to
measure.
 2.7 VALIDITY

The valid test for

measuring instruments
has a veracity of
truthfulness in the answer.
 FOUR WAYS TO
DETERMINE THE
VALIDITY OF THE
TEST
1. CONTENT VALIDITY
It refers to the extent to which the
content of the test is really a
representative to the course. This
type of validity can be determined
through the preparation of the table
of specification and by the judgment
of experts.
Miss Fe Garcia wishes to validate
a test in Mathematics . She
requires experts in mathematics
to judge if the test items or
questions measures the
knowledge, skills and values
supposed to be measured.
2. CONCURRENT VALIDITY
It refers to the extent to which
the test constructed by the
teacher is correlated with the
test that is already valid and
reliable.
Jhayson and Collin wishes to validate a
Science Achievement test they
constructed. They administered the test
to a group of science students. The results
of the test is correlated with an acceptable
Science test that which has been
previously proven as valid. If the
correlation is high the Science test they
constructed was valid.
3. PREDICTIVE VALIDITY
This type of validity is determined
by correlating the scores that the
students make on one particular test
with the scores or performances by the
same individuals on another test at a
later due.
MR. PABLO CRUZ WANTS TO ESTIMATE HOW
WELL A STUDENT MAY BE ABLE TO DO IN THE
GRADUATE SCHOOL COURSES ON THE BASES
OF HOW WELL HE HAS DONE ON TEST HE
TOOK IN UNDER GRADUATE COURSES. THE
CRITERION MEASURE AGAINST WHICH THE
TEST SCORES ARE VALIDATED AND OBTAINED
ARE AVAILABLE AFTER A LONG PERIOD OF
INTERVAL.
 4. CONSTRUCT VALIDITY
It present when an instrument appears to
measure a particular mental construct. A
construct is an intellectual invention which
cannot be seen, touch or heard but literally
constructed by the investigator to account
for the irregularities or relationship that he
or she observed in the behavior.
MISS BETH REYES WISHES TO ESTABLISH THE VALIDITY OF
AN IQ (INTELLIGENCE QUOTIENT) USING CULTURE FAIR
INTELLIGENCE TEST. HE HYPOTHESIZES THAT THE
STUDENTS WITH HIGH IQ ALSO HAVE HIGH ACHIEVEMENT
AND THOSE WITH LOW IQ, LOW ACHIEVEMENT. HE
THEREFORE ADMINISTERS BOTH CULTURE FAIR
INTELLIGENCE TEST AND ACHIEVEMENT TEST TO GROUP OF
STUDENTS WITH HIGH IQ AND LOW IQ RESPECTIVELY. IF
THE RESULTS SHOW THOSE WITH HIGH IQ HAVE HIGH
SCORES IN THE ACHIEVEMENT TEST AND THOSE WITH LOW
IQ HAVE LOW SCORES IN ACHIEVEMENT TEST, THE TEST IS
VALID.
2.8 RELIABILITY, ACCURACY OR CONSISTENCY
OF THE TEST

A test is said to be reliable

if it produces similar
results when used
repeatedly.
2.8 RELIABILITY, ACCURACY OR CONSISTENCY
OF THE TEST

Different ways of
estimating test
reliability are as follows:
 A. TEST AND RETEST METHOD OR
PRETEST AND POST TEST METHOD

 This method involves administering a given

test to a group of students and then a week
later re-administers the same test to the
same group. The scores obtained by the
students in the same test are to be
correlated using PEARSON product moment
correlation or the SPEARMAN RHO.
B. EQUIVALENT FORM OR PARALLEL FORM
This method involves administering two
different sets of tests to the same group of
students. The scores obtained by the students
in the two sets of test are correlated using
PEARSON r correlation or the SPEARMAN
RHO. In this method the concurrent validity and
predictive validity is established.
 EXAMPLE (EQUIVALENT FORM)
A biology teacher wants to find out if the test she
constructed possesses the characteristics of the test that
is already valid and reliable. She administers the test she
constructed to a group of students and their scores were:
12, 8, 9, 11, 9, 10, 7, 10, 11, 9, 10, 7, 6, 7 and 9.
After the first set, she administer another test which is
already valid and reliable and their scores were: 11, 9, 10,
12, 8, 11, 7, 8, 12, 14, 13, 9, 11, 7 and 8.
 USING SPEARMAN RHO THE FOLLOWING STEPS
MUST BE FOLLOWED:

1. Arrange the scores obtained by the students in the first

and second sets of tests from highest to lowest. Let x
represent the score in the first set and y in the second
set.
2. Give the corresponding ranks based on the serial
number (SN) of each score of the students.
3. After ranking the scores of the students, proceed to the
computation of Spearman rho. Let x & y represent the
original arrangement of scores.
 USING SPEARMAN RHO THE FOLLOWING STEPS
MUST BE FOLLOWED:

4. To find the value of the D subtract Rx from Ry, after

subtracting, multiply D by itself D2
then get the sum ∑D2.
5. Compute the Spearman rho, by applying the formula:
Rho = 1 - 6∑D2
N3 – N
6. After obtaining the value of rho go over the table of
interpretation.
 CORRELATION VALUE FOR PEARSON R AND
SPEARMAN RHO

SCALE DESCRIPTION
.81 – 1.00 VERY HIGH CORRELATION
.61 - .80 HIGH CORRELATION
.41 - .60 MODERATE CORRELATION
.21 - .40 LOW CORRELATION
.00 - .20 NEGLIGIBLE CORRELATION
 INTERNAL CONSISTENCY
This method is used with psychological test
which consists of dichotomously scored
items. The examinee either passes or fails in an
item. A rating of 1 is assigned for pass and zero for
failure. This method is determined by Kuder
Richardson Formula 20. This formula measure
internal consistency of homogeneity of the
measuring instruments.
 SPLIT HALF METHOD
This method may only be administered once
but the test items are divided into two halves.
The common procedure is to divide a test into
odd and even items. They will be correlated using
Pearson r or Spearman rho. The value of rho is
subjected to Spearman Brown Formula to find out
if the test items are similar or identical in Content,
Difficulty and Means.
 EXAMPLE: A 30 ITEM TEST IN BIOLOGY WAS ADMINISTERED TO 40
STUDENTS. THE SCORE ARE AS FOLLOWS:

STUDENTS RAW SCORE STUDENTS RAW SCORE STUDENTS RAW SCORE STUDENTS RAW SCORE

1 22 11 13 21 9 31 18
2 25 12 16 22 9 32 20
3 18 13 12 23 12 33 22
4 19 14 12 24 10 34 21
5 16 15 23 25 12 35 15
6 17 16 25 26 11 36 16
7 21 17 18 27 20 37 17
8 22 18 22 28 19 38 23
9 28 19 16 29 18 39 18
10 27 20 23 30 17 40 19
TO GET THE RELIABILITY
COEFFICIENT OF THE WHOLE TEST,
THE VALUE OF R SHOULD BE
SUBJECTED TO SPEARMAN BROWN
FORMULA.
Rwt = 2rht/1+rht
Where: R wt = reliability of the whole test
R ht = reliability of the half test
HAVE A GOOD DAY
AND KEEP SAFE 