Finding Tests & Measurement Instruments

If you are looking for a specific test and have some idea of the name of the test, here are some ways to search for the test: 

• Check for the test in PsycTESTS, which is a database that includes a focused collection of instrumentation tools developed for research but not made commercially available
• Consult Mental Measurements Yearbook with Tests in Print. Contains over 2,000 contemporary testing instruments
• Check for tests or partial tests in ERIC, or Education Source
• Try Google Scholar 
• Check for the test or the partial test in Dissertations and Theses 
• Consult this guide called Tests and Measures in Social Sciences put together by the University of Texas at Arlington. This guide indexes tests that appear in books that are compendia of tests, it also includes some tests outside of the social sciences. 

If you are searching for a part of a test (like a manual or scoring form), the options above may prove promising. For example, Mental Measurements Yearbooks includes information detailing tests and reviewing their contents and relevance. 

There is also a useful series of books published by Wiley whose titles all begin with "Essentials of..." (for example: Essentials of WAIS-IV Assessments). These books contain information on scoring, interpreting, and the reporting of various tests. 

You can search for these books by going to the Library Catalog and selecting "Advanced Search" - then search with "Wiley" as the publisher and "Essentials of" in the title field. 

PsycTESTS contains detailed information about psychological tests and measurement instruments. The tests in PsycTESTS are considered "unpublished" tests that originally appeared in journal articles and were never released commercially. The majority of entries in PsycTESTS include the full text of the test, but not all of the entries do. For those that are not complete, the affiliation and address of the author is usually provided, so you may be able to get a copy of the test by contacting the author. 

Search PsycTESTS by keyword, by test title, or by author. If you know the name of the test, enter it in the search box with quotes around the name and change the search field to "Test Name".

Mental Measurements Yearbook (with Tests in Print) has over 2,000 contemporary testing instruments, and many are commercial or published tests. If you find an entry for the test you are looking for in Mental Measurements Yearbook, find the publisher contact information so you can purchase the test.To use this database, enter the name of the test in the search box, and change the dropdown to TI Test Name, and click search. 

If you're not sure of the name of the test you are looking for, choose "Index" on the top left side of the page. Then use the "Browse an Index" dropdown to choose a "Test Name". 

ERIC is an online library of education research, sponsored by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) of the U.S. Department of Education. By connecting to ERIC through the SMC library, you are able to find full text articles and more at no cost to you. While ERIC mainly contains articles, there are some tests and instruments. 

To use, head to ERIC from the Databases A-Z page. Select "Advanced Search" and enter the name of the test in the main search box, putting the title in quotes only if you are sure of the name. Scroll down until you see "Publication Type" and change it to "Tests/Questionnaires". This will ensure the databases looks specifically for tests and questionnaires. Check the search results carefully to make sure that the appended documents include the specific test you want. 

Some tests are freely available on the internet, so it's always worth a try to look for the test online. Use Google and Google Books as you usually would. Google Books will search by keyword of all the books that have been digitized by Project Ocean - however, keep in mind that access may change, so if you find a test in Google Books please order it through Resource Sharing. 

Proquest Dissertations and Theses contains citations and the full text of dissertations and master's theses ranging from 1861 to those accepted last semester. To use this database to find tests, questionnaires, or measurement instruments, put the name of the test in the search box (in quotes if you are sure of the name of the test), and include NEAR/3 appendi*. NEAR is a proximity operator which looks for words on either side of the other word, and with a specified maximum number of words between them. That number (three in the example below) can be whatever you choose. 

This search will look for any dissertations that have the name of the test within three words of the word "Appendix" or "Appendices". Often, you can go right to the Table of Contents of the dissertation to check and see if the test you want is in the appendix. 

The Tests and Measures in Social Sciences TMdb (which stands for Tests and Measures Database) is a guide put together by the University of Texas at Arlington that indexes tests that appear in books. Select 'UT Arlington (host) web site".

This will take you to UT Arlington, but if you pair the search for your concepts with the letters "tmdb" the search will be limited to the guide

Each item in the search results list will provide the title of a book that includes a measurement on the topic you entered. Below the book title and the citation, you should find a list of instruments available within the book. Head to the library catalog search and enter the title of the book, use Resource Sharing if the material is not available locally.