remained one of the important concerns of psychology from the very beginning. Psychologists have constructed different types of tests for assessment of various human characteristics, such as intelligence, aptitude, personality, interest, attitudes, values, educational achievement, etc. These tests are used for various purposes, such as personnel selection, placement, training, guidance, diagnosis, etc., in multiple contexts including educational institutions, guidance clinics, industries, defence establishments, and so forth. Have you ever taken a psychological test?
If you have, you might have seen that a test contains a number of questions, called items, with their probable responses, which are related to a particular human characteristic or attribute. It is important here that the characteristic for which a test has been developed, should be defined clearly and unambiguously, and all items (questions) should be related to that characteristic only. You might also notice that often a test is meant for a particular age group. It may or may not have a fixed time limit for answering the questions.
Technically speaking, a psychological test is a standardised and objective instrument An investigator wants to study people’s attitude towards welfare programmes by circulating a questionnaire via the Internet. Is this study likely to reflect the views of the general population accurately? Why or why not?