A Statistics Refresher
Test scores are frequently expressed as
numbers and statistical tools are frequently
used to
 Describe test scores.
 Make inferences from test scores.
 Draw conclusions about test scores.
Measurement may be defined as the act of
assigning numbers or symbols to
characteristics of objects (as well as people,
events or other things) according to
 Rules.
The French word for black (noir) may be
thought of as an acronym wherein each of the
four letters corresponds to the first letter in
each of four
 Scales of measurement.
Through his writings, we know that Alfred
Binet viewed intelligence test data as
 Ordinal in nature.
A type of scale with a true zero point is
 A ratio scale.
The intersection of the vertical and horizontal
axes of a graph
 Is customarily at zero.
The mode is
 the most
frequently
occurring
score in a
distribution.
Which is true about the range of the
distribution?
 It is a quick but gross description of
the spread of scores.
Resulting data from a test of academic
knowledge are positively skewed. This
suggests that
 the test was too difficult
From which type of test administered to
members of the general population would you
LEAST expect the resulting data to be
distributed normally?
 A test to measure knowledge of
psychometric principles.
A test developer intent on obtaining a
distribution of scores that approximates the
normal curve may statistically
 Normalize the distribution.
Norms, Correlation, and Inference
In its plural form, "norms" is a term used in
psychometrics to refer to the test performance
data of
 a particular group of test takers to
be used for comparison
The term "norming" refers to the process of
 Deriving or generating norms.
A raw score of 0 on a test alerts the test user
to the possibility that the test taker
 may not have understood or been
able to carry out the directions
Race norming is the controversial practice of
norming
 On the basis of race or ethnic
background.
In the context of norming a test, a sample of
the population refers to
 People deemed to be representative
of the whole population.
An incidental sample
 Is also known as a convenience
sample.
In a bygone era, age norms were
 associated with the now out of
favor concept of mental age
A coefficient of correlation is an index of the
 Strength of the relationship
between two things.
Reliability
In the language of psychometrics, reliability refers
primarily to
 Consistency in measurement.
A reliability coefficient is an index of reliability that
reflects the ratio between
 the true score variance on a test and the total
variance.
In the context of psychometrics, error refers to the
component of the observed score on an ability test
that
 does not have to with the ability being
measured.
According to the true score theory, an individual's
score on a test of extraversion reflects a level of
extraversion as defined by the test and that level is
presumed to be
 Only an estimate of the test taker’s true level
of extraversion.
Item sampling is a source of error variance within the
context of
 test construction.
A behavioral observation checklist requires the
observer to note whether the person being observed
smiles. A key source of error variance resulting from
this requirement is
 Scoring variance.