Evaluation of Technical Quality

/in /by

Evaluation of Technical Quality

Resources

  • .
  • .
  • .
  • .
  • .
  • .
  • .
  • .
  • .
  • .

In Unit 2, you selected one standardized test that has relevancy to your academic and professional goals to be the focus of your course project. Your Unit 2 assignment focused on the first four elements of the Code for selecting a test. For this assignment, you will complete a deeper analysis of the technical quality of your selected test by focusing on the fifth element of the Code, which states that the test user will “evaluate evidence of the technical quality of the test provided by the test developer and any independent reviews.” To complete this assignment, you will draw upon the knowledge you gained in Units 3 and 4 about psychometrics in general and reliability and validity in particular.

For this assignment, you will use the test you selected for your project in Unit 2. Locate and summarize a minimum of seven articles related to the technical qualities of the selected test. You are encouraged to use the PSY7610 Library Research Guide, linked in the Resources, to assist your search.

For each article:

  • List the APA reference for each journal article (a minimum of seven).
  • Identify if the article addresses reliability or validity.
  • Discuss if the article addresses sources of error variance, reliability estimates, evidence of validity, or bias and fairness.
  • Identify the specific type of reliability or validity (for example, test-retest reliability, predictive validity, et cetera).
  • Identify the overall results of the research, including any psychometric or statistical outcome.

Submit your analysis as a paper using the outline provided in the section “Organize Your Paper” below.

Guidelines for Selecting the Literature

Use the most current sources you can find. Do not use sources older than 8 years. (You may cite older sources if they are classics, if you want to show the chronology of something, or if you have another good reason. If you choose to use older sources, you will need to explain why.). Use current, peer-reviewed journal articles. Do not use sources without an author or a publication date. Do not use quotes; use only your own words. Please see the Plagiarism in Coursework document in the resources for concerns with high content matching in papers. Evaluate whether or not the results supports the use of your test as appropriate for your field and populations to be served.

Note: The articles you need to complete this assignment should be available inside the library collection. In future courses, you may use the library’s Interlibrary Loan service to obtain articles outside of the collection, but you should not have to use the service for PSY7610. In the event that you cannot find articles covering a newer test edition, please refer to the List of Tests by Type, linked in the Resources. Note which tests have been designated as acceptable for searching prior test editions.

Organize Your Paper

For your paper, use the following headings:

  • Title page (required).
  • Abstract (optional).
  • Introduction.
    • Identify the standardized test you selected in Unit 2.
    • Describe briefly the publisher’s stated purpose for its use.
    • Identify briefly a population or psychological condition that is within the standardization of the test.
  • Technical review article summaries. Each article is to be directly related to your chosen test and one aspect of its technical quality. Note: Use an annotated bibliography for evaluative information format (see the resources for additional information available at Capella about annotated bibliographies).
    • List the APA reference for each journal article (a minimum of seven).
    • Identify if the article addresses reliability or validity.
    • Explain how the article addresses sources of error variance, reliability estimates, evidence of validity, or bias and fairness.
    • Identify the specific type of reliability or validity (for example, test-retest reliability, predictive validity, et cetera).
    • Identify the overall results of the research including any psychometric or statistical outcome.
  • Conclusion.
    • Synthesize the information from all the articles you reviewed about reliability.
    • Synthesize the information from all the articles you reviewed about validity.
    • Evaluate if your test continues to be deemed as appropriate for your planned use in the field and with the population to be served.
  • References (required, use current APA format and style).

Submit your draft to Turnitin prior to uploading it to the assignment area.

Additional Requirements

Your paper should meet the following requirements:

  • References: A minimum of seven journal articles (textbooks, Web pages, literature reviews, and the MMY book reviews do not count for these references).
  • Length of paper: Evaluation must be at least five pages in length for content (not including title page, abstract, or references).
Reference

Joint Committee on Testing Practices. (2004). Code of fair testing practices in education. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/science/programs/testing/fair-testing.pdf

Note: Your instructor may also use the APA Writing Feedback Rubric to provide additional feedback on your academic writing. The writing feedback rubric does not affect your assignment grade, but its feedback may factor into the grading criteria, if professional communication and writing is a course competency. Evaluate your own work using this rubric. Refer to the Learner Guide for instructions on viewing instructor feedback.

ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS

Discussion Questions (DQ)

  • Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, including a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words.
  • Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source.
  • One or two-sentence responses, simple statements of agreement, or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words.
  • I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses.

Weekly Participation

  • Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately.
  • In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies.
  • Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work).
  • Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week.

APA Format and Writing Quality

  • Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required).
  • Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation.
  • I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition.

Use of Direct Quotes

  • I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’s level and deduct points accordingly.
  • As Masters’s level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content.
  • It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source.

 

LopesWrite Policy

  • For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me.
  • Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes.
  • Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own?
  • Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score.

Late Policy

  • The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies.
  • Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances.
  • If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect.
  • I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension.
  • As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading.

Communication

  • Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me: 
    • Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class.
    • Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.

 

 

 

📚 Need a custom-written assignment from scratch?
Our expert academic writers deliver top-quality, 100% plagiarism-free work that guarantees an A+ grade.

✅ First assignment absolutely FREE!
Use code FREE at checkout for a 100% discount.

Note: We never resell papers. Every order is uniquely crafted just for you.

Get Your Free Assignment