Tests and Measures

Suggested steps for finding a test instrument on your topic:

You are welcome to contact Adina Mulliken, librarian, for assistance

1. If you have a very specific topic, search on the internet via Google and through library databases as you would for any literature search.  You can also use search tools on the "Search for Citations to Tests" tab on this guide.

However, many the majority tests are not available free online or via the Library due to copyright and publishers' restrictions.  Before spending too much time, consider the other steps below.    

• If you do find a test you especially want via Google but you cannot find the full text online, try to find and save the author, official title of the test, year it was published and any other information. Then search for it by title, author, year etcetera in the books and databases explained below.  If you found the test for sale, this suggests the Library generally is not able to get access. 
• Before searching for your specific test in the resources below, you could rule out whether it is a commerical test by quickly searching for it by title or author (using the drop down menu to limit your search to title or author) in Mental Measurements.   Commercial tests are generally not available to the Library. 

2. Come to the Social Work Library  and look through the tables of contents and indexes in our books of tests.  Measures for Clinical Practice by Corcoran and Fisher cover many topics, and several editions are available. Unfortunately, there is not one place to search all of the Library's books of tests at once; but, sometimes students have nevertheless found it very helpful to look at these books since they contain many actual instruments. Also browse through the free online tests tab of this guide.

3. Use databases to search for citations to test instruments that can be found in books, articles, or microfiche.  Then, obtain the book, article, or microfiche.

4. Finally, you may want to try  searching for tests in online dissertations. 

5. Considerations to decide whether a test should be used depend on the context, such as whether you want to give the test to subjects or only cite it in a paper.  These considerations include copyright permissions, fees, full text availability, validity and reliability.  Buros collects various organizations' standards, codes and guidelines on using tests.