Searching for Tests and Instruments

Are you looking for tests, questionnaires, surveys, or instruments to measure health, education, and/or behavior? Searching for tests can be an overwhelming task if you are not sure where to begin. The following are some facts and time-saving tips to help you get started.

There are two types of categories tests fall into:

• Unpublished tests are usually the easiest to locate. There are many unpublished tests available which can be searched in the journal literature, in books, or if you are lucky you can find them online. In most cases, you will often find reviews of tests. However, if you find an unpublished test it is sometimes necessary to ask permission from the author(s) to administer them.
• Published tests are copyrighted and usually available through a commercial publisher for a fee. They are not readily available through searching the journal literature or online resources. You can usually find critiques or reviews of published tests in reference sources, but to access the full instrument and administer it you must obtain permission from the publisher.

For more information about published and unpublished tests, see the American Psychological Association's “FAQ/Finding Information about Psychological Tests.” http://www.apa.org/science/faq-findtests.html

Online Sources

There are journal literature databases you can search from the UAMS Library to find instruments and reviews. For additional searching tips, please contact the UAMS Library’s Reference Department: 686-6734 or libraryreferencedesk@uams.edu.

Select the individual database from the list of resources: http://www.library.uams.edu/resources/eResources.aspx

• EBSCO, Mental Measurements Yearbook
• OVID, Health and Psychosocial Instruments (HaPI)
• EBSCO, PsycINFO
• EBSCO, Current Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL Plus with Full Text )
• PubMed MEDLINE
• EBSCO, Educational Resource Information Center (ERIC)

Print Resources, 1st floor

• Tests in print WM 145 T289
• Tests, a comprehensive reference for assessments in psychology, education, and business WM 145 T287
• Test critiques WM 145 T288
• Directory of unpublished experimental mental measures WM 145 G569d
• Measuring health: a guide to rating scales and questionnaires WA 900 M148m

 Additional Online Resources

Buros Institute
http://buros.unl.edu/buros/jsp/search.jsp
Use this resource as an online index to the Mental Measurements Yearbook (MMY).

ETS Test Collection
http://www.ets.org/testcoll/index.html
The Educational Testing Service (ETS) Collection includes an extensive library of 20,000 tests and other measurement devices from the early 1900s to the present.

National Information Center on Health Services Research and Health Care Technology (NICHSR)
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/nichsr/hsrr_search/
Browse by instrument/indices title for test information and references.