Test Development Proposal Overview of Assignment Details: Throughout the course, students will conduct research on instruments that are currently used to measure a particular construct, develop a new...

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Test Development Proposal



Overview of Assignment Details:


Throughout the course, students will conduct research on instruments that are currently used to measure a particular construct, develop a new instrument to measure that construct, administer the instrument to participants, and report on data arising from those administrations. Students are free to select any construct of their interest, such as some ability, a personality construct, or any kind of attitude or belief.


Over the six-week course, students will select a construct of interest (such as depression, anxiety, job satisfaction, etc.), conduct research on other popular instruments used to measure the same or similar construct, develop a 12-15 item instrument, administer the instrument to three to five participants, discuss the methods used to administer the instrument, provide a strengths and weaknesses/limitation section regarding the development of the instrument, and discuss ways to increase the reliability and validity of the instrument.



Test Development Proposal:


The goal of this final assignment is to integrate Step One, Step Two, and Step Three of your Test Development Proposal, as well as to discuss the methods used, provide a critique of the instrument you developed, and discuss the strengths and limitations involved in the study and with the instrument developed. The Test Development Proposal should be at least 15 pages (but not more than 25 pages), double-spaced, not including your title page, abstract, Appendix, and references page, and should contain the following sections:




    1. A title page









    1. Abstract









    1. Rationale/Problem Statement: Explain your construct of interest. Make a case for why this construct is important to you, the field of psychology, or your specialization area. What specifically about your construct are you wanting to assess? Are there different characteristics or behaviors that can be assessed within your construct? For example, if measuring depression as a construct, would you want to measure the severity of depression or the symptoms related to depression? What are all the characteristics of depression? Would you be assessing all of the characteristics?









    1. Research Question: Develop a research question addressing what you will be assessing.
      Literature Review: Taken from Step Two, along with any required edits. Write a seven to eight page literature review on your construct of interest and the five to seven instruments used to assess it. Thus, the literature review should explain your construct of interest thoroughly, as well as provide thorough reviews of the five to seven instruments used to measure it. This is slightly different from other literature reviews, whereby the idea is to review and critique the study and findings. For this literature review you are not reviewing the study but rather are reviewing and critiquing the instrument based on what studies and other research have found. The idea here is review the instrument and its usefulness in measuring your construct. Thus, what does the instrument measure, how reliable and valid is it, and what are its strengths and weaknesses? What is lacking in the instrument which paves the way for the necessity of your newly developed instrument? How are these instruments different from what you will develop?
      Use five to seven scholarly resources, including mostly research studies and articles related to your construct and the instruments used to measure it. Information should be drawn from appropriate sources, such as professional journals, test publisher websites, and dissertations. Information gathered from sources must be appropriately cited, following APA guidelines.
      Please be sure to include the following in your literature review:


      • A thorough discussion of each instrument you review for your construct, including the name of the test, what the test is used for, whether the test is appropriate for this area, what the reliability and validity of the test is, and what reviewers say about the strengths and weaknesses of it with regard to assessing this construct

      • What, in general, appears to be adequately assessed on each test with respect to the construct that you selected?

      • What does not appear to be adequately assessed?

      • Your literature review should justify your development of an assessment—is there a hole in what is currently being assessed that you can fill with your test? Make a case for why your proposed test would address an area that is not already well assessed.





    2. Methodology: Provide detailed information regarding the scale that you developed, who the participants were, and how the scale was administered. Include the following:


      • Participant Selection: Explain who your participants were (e.g. total number, gender, age, etc.) and how you selected them. Be as specific as possible, as if you were giving directions to someone on how to choose and obtain the participants. Include instructions on how informed consent was provided to the participants. Be sure to indicate whether each participant received and reviewed the consent form provided.

      • Measures: Discuss the instrument you developed, including what the instrument measures, how many items were developed, what type of scale it is (e.g. rating scale, observation, multiple choice, etc.), and how you developed the instruments (e.g. did you use examples from pre-existing scales, etc.). Include a copy of the instrument in the Appendix.

      • Data Collection: Discuss how and where the data was collected (e.g. was the data collected via an internet survey, a group setting, individualized administrations, etc.). Was the data collected in an office setting, house, etc.? Were the participants provided with explicit instructions on how to complete the scale?





    3. Discussion: Include the following information, using at least two to three scholarly sources to support your discussion:


      • Strengths and Weaknesses: Provide a thorough critique of your scale. What do you believe are the strengths of your scale? The weaknesses? Regarding test construction, are there any items that appear to be problematic or vague? Are the response choices clear and appropriate? Does the scale appear to measure the construct you have selected? How could you increase the validity of your scale?

      • Ethical Considerations: Could your participants be harmed by your scale, either in taking it or after it is finished? Address this and other possibly relevant questions of ethics.

      • Limitations: No research covers everything. What are the obvious limitations to this study/proposal?





    4. References Page: The references page should be formatted according to APA style.








  1. Appendix of your test development scale: Taken from Step Three, along with any required edits.

Answered 2 days AfterJan 12, 2021

Answer To: Test Development Proposal Overview of Assignment Details: Throughout the course, students will...

Abhishek answered on Jan 14 2021
133 Votes
Running Head: TEST DEVELOPMENT PROPOSAL                    1
TEST DEVELOPMENT PROPOSAL                            8
TEST DEVELOPMENT PROPOSAL
(CONSTRUCT OF INTEREST: DEPRESSION)
Table of Contents
Abstract    4
Problem Statement    5
Research Question    6
Literature Review    7
Depression: A Disorder    7
Symptoms    7
Types of Depression    8
Major Depressive Disorder    8
Persistent Depressive Disorder    8
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)    9
Psychotic Depression    9
Postpartum Depression    9
Situational Depression    10
Atypical Depression    10
Scales of Depression    10
Beck Depression Inventory BDI-II    10
Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D)    11
Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS)    12
Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS)    12
Methodology    13
Participant Selection    13
Measures    14
Data Collection    14
Discussion    15
Strengths and Weaknesses    15
Ethical Considerations    16
Limitations    17
References    19
Abstract
The depression measure scale will be developed based on the DSM criteria and Beck Depression Inventory. It will consist of 24 items where the eight symptoms according to the DSM criteria will be measured. This is to understand the severity of the symptoms and the number of symptoms present. This will help individuals understand if the symptoms are of clinical significance. The sampling will be done through cluster sampling and the data will be collected both quantitatively and qualitatively. The qualitative data will be collected from interviews from people diagnosed with depression, who are on the border and people with no mental health illness. The quantitative data will be through surveys.
Problem Statement
Clinical Depression is a mood disorder characterized by three main symptoms, which are persistent feelings of sadness, hopelessness and the loss of interest in activities they once enjoyed. For one to be diagnosed with depression, they must possess these symptoms for a duration of 2 weeks and should meet the DSM/ICD criteria of the condition. According to a recent study, almost 264 million people worldwide can be diagnosed with depression.
Depression and Suicide as a co morbidity is the second leading cause of death in the age bracket of 15-29 year olds. This is because oftentimes depression goes undetected. This is why it is necessary to come up with a scale of depression that can be used by the general public. This scale will be able to help the person understand the severity of their symptoms and understand whether they should seek professional help (Slomian, Honvo Emonts, Reginster & Bruyere, 2019).
This would fill the gap where many people do not seek professional help, as they do not think their symptoms are not severe or do not mandate professional help. The scale will be highlighting the symptoms and their severity individually. If more than five symptoms are based on the DSM criteria and they are in the bracket of severity or borderline then the subject can assume that they need to seek professional help (Slomian et al., 2019).
The symptoms that will be measured in the scale will be based on the DSM 5 criteria. The symptoms need to be persisting for more than two weeks for depression to be diagnosed.
· A prolonged mood of sadness throughout the duration of the day
· Diminished Pleasure in previously pleasurable activities
· Significant Weight loss or gain
· Reduction of Physical Movement
· Fatigue or Loss of Energy
· Feelings of worthlessness
· Diminished Ability to perform cognitive activities such as thinking or decision making
· Recurrent thoughts of death and suicidal ideation
Research Question
The main research question that needs to be addressed is the severity of the symptoms and it is to understand whether the person shows enough of the symptoms in order to suspect that they have a clinical form of depression.
The objectives of the test construction will be based on the research question. The objectives of the research are as follows:
· To understand whether the symptoms of depression based on the DSM 5 criteria are present
· To understand how many symptoms of the DSM 5 criteria are present
· To understand the severity of the symptoms present
· To understand whether the symptoms severity and the number of symptoms present are enough to mandate a clinical consultation
The aims of the research studies are the questions based on the objectives, which will help the researcher proceed with the study with the understanding of the questions that need to be answered. The research questions based on the objectives are as follows:
· What are the severities of the symptoms present in the subject?
· How many symptoms of the symptoms from the DSM 5 criteria are present in the study?
· Is the severity and amount of symptoms present enough to recommend the subject consult a clinical psychologist?
Literature Review
Depression: A Disorder
Depression is a mood disorder that is diagnosed by persistent feelings of sadness, loss of interest and feelings of hopelessness. This disorder is also known as clinical depression or major depressive disorder. The symptoms must be present in the person for a duration of a minimum of two weeks (von Glischinski, von Brachel & Hirschfeld, 2019). Depression is diagnosed based on the DSM five criteria and the presence of more than five symptoms for the minimum duration will indicate the person is diagnosed with depression.
Symptoms
The symptoms, which are present in the DSM criteria in order for it to be diagnosed, are depressed mood, no interest in activities the person reduced, weight gain or loss, fatigue, slow physical movements, feelings of guilt for no reason, feelings for worthlessness, reduced cognitive ability and suicidal ideation.
As informed by Gold et al. (2020), the elements, which could be associated with major depressive disorder, as it is clinically known, are:
· Higher mortality rates due to suicidal ideation being one of the comorbidities, which occurs with Depression
· Irritability is also another quality that is associated with depression
· Obsessive Rumination
· Anxiety
· Phobias
· Physical pains or major physical illnesses
It may occur with features of mania. The episode may not be able to categorize as a manic episode but is similar in how it occurs.
Types of Depression
Major Depressive Disorder
Major Depression Disorder is the common form of depression. It is categorized by the symptoms being present for a minimum of two weeks (Garcia-Batista, Guerra-Pena, Cano-Vindel, Herrera-Martinez & Medrano, 2018). The symptoms are as follows—
· A major change in weight of the individual can be gain or loss
· Unable to fall asleep
· Tired and fatigued
· No interest in previously enjoyed activities
· Feelings of agitation
· Feelings of restlessness
· Sluggish Movements
· Suicidal ideation
· Feelings of worthlessness
· Feeling of irrational guilt
Persistent Depressive Disorder
When an individual diagnosed with depression has the same conditions and symptoms for over two years. It is known as persistent depressive disorder. As suggested by Łojko and Rybakowski (2017), the course of treatment for persistent depressive disorder is psychotherapy, antidepressants or a combination of both. The symptoms of persistent depressive disorder are—
· A change in the appetite from the regular habits of the person
· Change in their sleeping habits
· They have little or no energy
· They have lower self-esteem
· They have difficulty with cognitive abilities such as decision-making or concentration
· They have feelings of hopelessness
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
Seasonal Affective Disorder also known as SAD is depression that occurs in colder countries in the winter months. This occurs when the days are short and the person is accustomed to little or no sunlight (Kok & Reynolds, 2017). This lasts only for the time period of winter and the person becomes different in summer and spring when they are exposed to longer days and more sunlight. The treatment of this type of depression is treated with antidepressants and light therapy.
Psychotic Depression
Psychotic depression occurs when an individual shows symptoms of both major depression along with psychotic features. These psychotic features can include hallucination, delusions and others. The psychotic features, which occur in comorbidity with depression, are:
· Hallucinations are seeing and hearing things that are not real or present
· Delusions are false beliefs, which the patients harbor
· The individuals tend to be paranoid and always feel as if they are unsafe
As recommended by Lim et al. (2018), this is treated with a mix of medications that help to cure both the depressive and...
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