Databases and Electronic Resources
Note: Unless otherwise indicated, the databases are restricted to University of Chicago users.
Health
and Psychosocial Instruments (HAPI)--via OVID
Produced by Behavioral Measurement Database Services,
this database indexes materials from 1985 to the present. It provides access
to information on measurement instruments (i.e., questionnaires, interview schedules,
checklists, index measures, coding schemes/manuals, rating scales, projective
techniques, vignettes/scenarios, tests) in the health fields, psychosocial sciences,
organizational behavior, and library and information science. The database contains
citations to actual test documents and bibliographic citations to journal articles
and compilations which contain information about specific test instruments.
Mental
Measurements Yearbook (MMY)--via OVID
This searchable database includes the full-text
of the reviews and descriptive information about tests and measurement instruments
that are contained in the print title of the same name (Z5814.P8R91 Regenstein
4th Floor Reading Room). Full-text begins with the 9th edition (1980) and continues
to the present. The database is updated every six months. MMY is produced by
the Buros Institute of Mental Measurements
and its website includes a variety of useful information. The Instructional
Resources section offers "How To" guides and a MMY
Index covering all the print volumes since 1985. Buros also offers a free
service, Test Reviews Online,
that includes citations to, and excerpts from, the complete MMY (and customers
can then purchase the complete review if they do not have other access).
Tests
and Measures in the Social Sciences: Tests available in compilation volumes
Thanks to the work of Helen Hough, Health
Sciences Librarian at the University of Texas at Arlington, this freely available
resource indexes more than 100 titles that provide the text of more than 10,000
instruments. The website also offers help pages and a list of links to FAQs
about locating tests and measures.
ETS Test Collection
The Educational Testing Service (ETS) offers
a free search facility into its database of more than 25,000 citations to tests
and other measurement devices. Many of these instruments are unpublished and,
for some, the ETS sells copies in microfiche. A subset of the ETS Test Collection
comprises Tests in Microfiche, to which the UofC Library subscribes
(Regenstein, Microforms, Floor 3, Call No.: microfcLB3051.T474). A list of which
tests are included in Tests in Microfiche is offered by Helen Hough in her resource
cited above.
PsycInfo--via
OVID
This database, produced by the American Psychological
Association (APA), indexes journal literature in the field of psychology as
well as books, book chapters, reports, and dissertations. PsycInfo offers a
search limit of "Tests and Measures"; this field provides the names
of tests that were used in the study or for an article where the test itself
was the topic. If the document includes the actual test in its entirety (usually
unpublished tests and surveys), PsycInfo adds the word “Appended”
in the “Tests & Measures” field. The APA offers much more guidance
through its PsycInfo Search
Help/Training Center, including Tips
for Searching for Tests.