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Dinesh Kumar, Lovely Professional University Unit 4: Characteristics of a Good Test

Unit 4: Characteristics of a Good Test Notes

CONTENTS
Objectives
Introduction
4.1 Characteristics of a Good Test
4.2 Questions
4.3 Characteristics of a Good Question

4.4 Genotypic Varieties of a Question
4.5 Summary
4.6 Keywords
4.7 Review Questions
4.8 Further Readings

Objectives

The objectives of this unit can be summarised as below :
• To explain the characteristics of good test
• To discuss about question
• To describe the characteristics of a good question
• To discuss about the genotypic varieties of a question

Introduction

There are different varieties of tests : achievement tests, diagnostic tests, mental-ability tests, selection
tests and psychological tests, besides the class-room unit tests. It is always assumed in testing that
the measuring instrument or tool (test, question etc.) is of good quality and whatever evidences are
gathered are dependable. This assumption is, however, questionable unless we know or determine
the quality of the tool we use. In this unit we will study about characteristics of a good test.

4.1 Characteristics of a Good Test

A good test should possess the following qualities:-
Validity
A test is considered as valid when it measures what it is supposed to measure.
Reliability
A test is considered reliable if it is taken again by the same students under the same
circumstances and the score average is almost the constant, taking into consideration that the
time between the test and the retest is of reasonable length.
Objectivity
• A test is said to be objective if it is free from personal biases in interpreting its scope as well as
in scoring the responses.

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