WHAT IS A TEST?
When we use the word test in this brochure, we are referring to professionally developed instruments such as those produced by ATP members. Professionally developed tests are constructed responsibly and are responsive to existing professional standards. It is important to emphasize that not every assessment that is promoted or represented as a test falls into this category. A test begins as a set of questions. Experts in the appropriate field construct the questions to assess or measure a specific ability or characteristic. The questions are based on the developers knowledge of the ability or characteristic to be assessed by the test. Next, the questions comprising the prospective test are administered to a large number (often thousands) of individuals in field studies, and the results are analyzed by measurement experts.
When we use the word test in this brochure, we are referring to professionally developed instruments such as those produced by ATP members. Professionally developed tests are constructed responsibly and are responsive to existing professional standards. It is important to emphasize that not every assessment that is promoted or represented as a test falls into this category. A test begins as a set of questions. Experts in the appropriate field construct the questions to assess or measure a specific ability or characteristic. The questions are based on the developers knowledge of the ability or characteristic to be assessed by the test. Next, the questions comprising the prospective test are administered to a large number (often thousands) of individuals in field studies, and the results are analyzed by measurement experts. The prospective test must prove to give the same accurate results time after time to be reliable, to be equally applicable to all groups who take it to be fair, and t
