Postgraduate Course: Applied Psychometrics (PSYL11106)
Course Outline
| School | School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course will cover essential psychometric theory and methodology for developing, administering and interpreting psychological assessments, preparing for careers in both research and applied settings, including as psychometricians, clinical, educational, or occupational psychologists. It surveys practical topics in psychological measurement, including psychometric theory and models, test construction, and test result interpretation. We will also explore pragmatic and ethical considerations in psychological measurement. Those who complete this course will learn to create, present, and assess psychological tests, focusing on their practical application and evaluation of their psychometric properties. |
| Course description |
This course surveys psychometric theory and methodology. The overall aim of the course is to provide students with an introductory understanding to the process involved in the construction and evaluation of psychological tests, and to be an educated reader of test manuals and development papers. Ultimately, it is intended that the course will provide the skills to make better decisions on the selection and use of tests across a variety of research and applied settings. The course will first discuss the various different types of psychometric tests, common usage both in academia and in practice, and the fundamental goals of measurement. Next, we will consider construct definition and test design procedures, including writing of test items and instructions, and selection of response formats. We will introduce quantitative methods for scale evaluation including factor analytic and, briefly, item response theories. Next, we will consider the topics of reliability, validity and test bias. We will examine critical aspects of administration and scoring procedures, focusing on various types of test scores and the norming process (e.g., normative samples, z-scores, and stanines). This discussion will emphasize how to appropriately interpret psychological test scores, considering psychometric limitations, including imprecision and other metrics of reliability and validity. Finally, we will discuss the practical/pragmatic and ethical considerations of psychological measurement in applied settings. The course will be delivered via a mix of lecture, class discussions and group exercises. During the exercises, we will work with a number of established psychometric tools from across psychology, and critically evaluate the evidence present in the test manuals.
|
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Course Delivery Information
|
| Academic year 2025/26, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
|
Quota: 0 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 10,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 10,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
176 )
|
| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
|
| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Report 1: Test generation - 30% (1500 words)
Report 2: Evidence evaluation - 70% |
| Feedback |
Students will receive verbal feedback during the practical sessions.
Students will receive feedback on first assessment in time for it to help them with the second.
Students will receive feedback on final assignment throughout the process, i.e., they will work on this in consultation with one of the people teaching the course. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Describe and critically evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of different types of psychometric tests.
- Critically evaluate measurement design procedures to clearly define psychological constructs and develop suitable tests to assess these constructs.
- Understand statistical approaches used in the development and evaluation of psychometric tests and their implications for interpreting results.
- Demonstrate understanding of how to appropriately interpret psychological test scores.
- Critically evaluate evidence for the quality of a measure.
|
Reading List
Main textbook (available electronically at no cost via the University Library)
Modern Psychometrics: The Science of Psychological Assessment by Rust J, Kosinski M, and Stillwell D.
For more detail, articles, especially guides, related to some of the topics. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Skills:
Research and enquiry:
Problem solving in many professions, and especially those where assessment is used for various purpose. Knowing how to select a psychometrically good test, identify bad tests, and create tests is invaluable.
Designing/refining a measurement scale, including related analyses.
Understanding product (test) manuals.
Written/oral communication
Attributes:
The course will help students think and communicate. Often, tests and other products/services are chosen for no good reason Being able to describe and evaluate them tests and communicate their good and bad features is relevant in a lot of industries. |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Chloe Fawns-Ritchie
Tel:
Email: c.fawns-ritchie@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Mollie Fordyce
Tel:
Email: mfordyc2@ed.ac.uk |
|
|
University Homepage