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Counseling Psychology Librarian
Identifying Tests & Measures
The SCU Library does not subscribe to any specific collections of psychological tests, measures, or assessment instruments. However, there are strategies you can use to identify, evaluate, and access these resources for your research and clinical needs.
Search an Open Collection
You can search an open collection or resource to identify existing instruments that are freely available.
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DSM-5-TR Online Assessment Measures“Emerging measures” from the APA (Section III of DSM-5-TR).
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ETS Test CollectionA database of over 25,000 tests and other instruments including tests from U.S. publishers, individual test authors, and non-U.S. sources.
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Self Report MeasuresCollection of measures from the Addiction Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Includes measures beyond those assessing substance use.
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Positive Psychology Questionnaires for ResearchersCollection of instruments from the University of Pennsylvania's Positive Psychology Center.
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Substance Use Screening & Assessment InstrumentsInstruments for screening and assessment of substance use and substance use disorders from the University of Washington.
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Measurement Instruments for the Social SciencesA journal that publishes open access measurement instruments intended for scientific use across various disciplines (e.g., sociology, psychology, education, political science, economics etc.).
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RAND SurveysHealth-related survey instruments from RAND, including assessments of physical and mental health, quality of care, and quality of life.
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International Personality Item PoolIncludes over 250 scales constructed from the International Personality Item Pool (IPIP), a project of the Oregon Research Institute.
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Yale Medical Library Guide to Psychological Tests and MeasurementsA research guide from Yale Medical Library with additional search tips and resources.
Use the Scholarly Literature
Another strategy to identify measures is searching the scholarly literature.
Search for an empirical study focused on the population, construct(s), and intervention(s) you're interested in, and look at the article's methods section to identify measures used by the researchers.
APA PsycINFO has a Tests & Measures field, accessible from the drop-down menu to the right of each search box.
You can use this field in two ways:
1) Search for keywords related to your construct (e.g., anxiety). Results will include studies using measures related to the keyword you searched.
2) Search for the names of specific tests or measures. Results will include studies using the specific measure you searched.
For help finding tests and measures in Education, see the SCU Library's Education Research Guide.
Evaluating Tests & Measures
Information about test reliability and validity may be found by searching APA PsycINFO using the Tests & Measures field (see above). Search the name of the measure to find articles about its development and/or revision, as well as assessments of reliability and validity.
Further information about and reviews of tests are available in Mental Measurements Yearbook. SCU Library does not currently subscribe to this resource. You may be able to access test reviews from the Mental Measurements Yearbook via InterLibrary Loan or via the public access computers at the SJSU Library.
Accessing Tests & Measures
Many psychological tests and assessments are proprietary, and may have restrictions and/or fees associated with their use. If you need to access the full text of an instrument for research, reach out to your librarian for help, or try one of the following strategies.
1) Consider using an openly-available measure. If you don't need to use a specific test or measure, consider an openly-available instrument that assesses the same construct(s). See the section above containing a list of open collections.
2) Search for the measure in APA PsycINFO or ProQuest Dissertations & Theses. You may find test items listed or described in the methods section, or a full instrument appended at the end of a document.
3) Use a specialized resource. APA PsycTests is one place to find full text of various instruments. Information about access, publishers, pricing, and permissions for major tests are available in Mental Measurements Yearbook. SCU Library does not currently subscribe to either of these resources. You may be able to access test information from the Mental Measurements Yearbook via InterLibrary Loan, though InterLibrary Loan may not be able to obtain copies of full instruments. You may be able to access APA PsycTESTS or Mental Measurements Yearbook via the public access computers at the SJSU Library.