El objetivo del libro es proporcionar a los lectores las herramientas necesarias para evaluar la calidad psicome trica de las medidas educativas y psicolo gicas, asi como de encuestas y cuestionarios. Cada capi tulo aborda un tema relativo a la pra ctica psicome trica y de la medida, con e nfasis en la aplicacio n. Los temas sera n tratados brevemente desde una perspectiva teo rica/te cnica con el fin de proporcionar al lector los antecedentes necesarios para utilizar e interpretar correctamente los ana lisis estadi sticos que se presentara n con posteriormente. Este libro esta dirigido a investigadores, profesionales y estudiantes de posgrado (Ma ster y Doctorado) que buscan una gui a para realizar ana lisis psicome tricos de diferentes instrumentos de evaluacio n. Asumimos un nivel ba sico de conocimientos estadi sticos, pero estos conceptos se ira n repasando a lo largo de los diferentes capi tulos. Nos imaginamos que este texto (a) esperara pacientemente en algunos despachos implorando ser entregado, como recurso, a un estudiante, (b) tendra un lugar fijo en las mesas de los despachos donde continuamente, y debido a su uso diario, sera el primero del monto n, (c) estara en las mochilas de los estudiantes de postgrado, y los acompan ara felizmente desde casa al trabajo o a las clases y vuelta, (d) aparecera orgullosamente como un texto de referencia en los programas y guia s de estudio, y finalmente (e) como ocasional posavasos mientras se reflexiona profundamente acerca de co mo resolver los problemas de medida. Esperamos que a trave s de estos usos, sobre todo el u ltimo, aportar algu n conocimiento y ayuda que permita a los lectores aplicar adecuadamente las te cnicas y los conceptos abordados en este manual. The goal of the book is to provide readers with the tools necessary for assessing the psychometric qualities of educational and psychological measures as well as surveys and questionnaires. Each chapter will cover an issue pertinent to psychometric and measurement practice, with an emphasis on application. Topics will be briefly discussed from a theoretical/technical perspective in order to provide the reader with the background necessary to correctly use and interpret the statistical analyses that will be presented subsequently. The anticipated audience for this book includes researchers, practitioners, and graduate students searching for a guide to perform common psychometric analyses on various assessments, as discussed in many psychometric texts. We envision that this text will (a) patiently wait on some office shelves begging to be handed to a student as a resource, (b) have a permanent home on desks where it continually rises to the top of the stacks for daily use of the applied researcher, (c) be happily carried in bags to and from work and class by the graduate student learning techniques, (d) be listed proudly as a reference text on syllabi, and finally (e) as an occasional drink coaster while deep thoughts are pondered about how to solve measurement problems. We hope that through such uses, particularly the latter, that we have provided some insight and assistance to the user in appropriately applying the techniques and concepts discussed.

The book is designed primarily for graduate students (or advanced undergraduates) who are learning psychometrics, as well as professionals in the field who need a reference for use in their practice. We would assume that users have some basic knowledge of using SAS to read data and conduct basic analyses (e.g., descriptive statistics, frequency distributions). In addition, the reader should be familiar with basic statistical concepts such as descriptive statistics (e.g., mean, median, variance, standard deviation), percentiles and the rudiments of hypothesis testing. They should also have a passing familiarity with issues in psychometrics such as reliability, validity and test/survey scoring. The authors do not assume any more than basic familiarity with these issues, and devote a portion of each chapter (as well as the entire first chapter) to reviewing many of these basic ideas for those not familiar with them. This book will be useful either as a primary text for a course on applied measurement where SAS is the main platform for instruction, or as a supplement to a more theoretical text. The readership will include graduate students, faculty members, data analysts and psychometricians responsible for analysis of survey response data, as well as educational and psychological assessments. This book aims to provide readers with the tools necessary for assessing the psychometric qualities of educational and psychological measures as well as surveys and questionnaires. Each chapter covers an issue pertinent to psychometric and measurement practice, with an emphasis on application. Topics are briefly discussed from a theoretical/technical perspective in order to provide the reader with the background necessary to correctly use and interpret the statistical analyses that is presented subsequently. Readers are then presented with examples illustrating a particular concept (e.g., reliability). These examples include a discussion of the particular analysis, along with the SAS code necessary to conduct them. The resulting output is then discussed in detail, focusing on the interpretation of the results. Finally, examples of how these results might be written up is also included in the text. This mixture of theory with examples of actual practice will serve the reader both as a pedagogical tool and as a reference work.

The book is designed primarily for graduate students (or advanced undergraduates) who are learning psychometrics, as well as professionals in the field who need a reference for use in their practice. We would assume that users have some basic knowledge of using SAS to read data and conduct basic analyses (e.g., descriptive statistics, frequency distributions). In addition, the reader should be familiar with basic statistical concepts such as descriptive statistics (e.g., mean, median, variance, standard deviation), percentiles and the rudiments of hypothesis testing. They should also have a passing familiarity with issues in psychometrics such as reliability, validity and test/survey scoring. The authors do not assume any more than basic familiarity with these issues, and devote a portion of each chapter (as well as the entire first chapter) to reviewing many of these basic ideas for those not familiar with them. This book will be useful either as a primary text for a course on applied measurement where SAS is the main platform for instruction, or as a supplement to a more theoretical text. The readership will include graduate students, faculty members, data analysts and psychometricians responsible for analysis of survey response data, as well as educational and psychological assessments. This book aims to provide readers with the tools necessary for assessing the psychometric qualities of educational and psychological measures as well as surveys and questionnaires. Each chapter covers an issue pertinent to psychometric and measurement practice, with an emphasis on application. Topics are briefly discussed from a theoretical/technical perspective in order to provide the reader with the background necessary to correctly use and interpret the statistical analyses that is presented subsequently. Readers are then presented with examples illustrating a particular concept (e.g., reliability). These examples include a discussion of the particular analysis, along with the SAS code necessary to conduct them. The resulting output is then discussed in detail, focusing on the interpretation of the results. Finally, examples of how these results might be written up is also included in the text. This mixture of theory with examples of actual practice will serve the reader both as a pedagogical tool and as a reference work.

El objetivo del libro es proporcionar a los lectores las herramientas necesarias para evaluar la calidad psicome trica de las medidas educativas y psicolo gicas, asi como de encuestas y cuestionarios. Cada capi tulo aborda un tema relativo a la pra ctica psicome trica y de la medida, con e nfasis en la aplicacio n. Los temas sera n tratados brevemente desde una perspectiva teo rica/te cnica con el fin de proporcionar al lector los antecedentes necesarios para utilizar e interpretar correctamente los ana lisis estadi sticos que se presentara n con posteriormente. Este libro esta dirigido a investigadores, profesionales y estudiantes de posgrado (Ma ster y Doctorado) que buscan una gui a para realizar ana lisis psicome tricos de diferentes instrumentos de evaluacio n. Asumimos un nivel ba sico de conocimientos estadi sticos, pero estos conceptos se ira n repasando a lo largo de los diferentes capi tulos. Nos imaginamos que este texto (a) esperara pacientemente en algunos despachos implorando ser entregado, como recurso, a un estudiante, (b) tendra un lugar fijo en las mesas de los despachos donde continuamente, y debido a su uso diario, sera el primero del monto n, (c) estara en las mochilas de los estudiantes de postgrado, y los acompan ara felizmente desde casa al trabajo o a las clases y vuelta, (d) aparecera orgullosamente como un texto de referencia en los programas y guia s de estudio, y finalmente (e) como ocasional posavasos mientras se reflexiona profundamente acerca de co mo resolver los problemas de medida. Esperamos que a trave s de estos usos, sobre todo el u ltimo, aportar algu n conocimiento y ayuda que permita a los lectores aplicar adecuadamente las te cnicas y los conceptos abordados en este manual. The goal of the book is to provide readers with the tools necessary for assessing the psychometric qualities of educational and psychological measures as well as surveys and questionnaires. Each chapter will cover an issue pertinent to psychometric and measurement practice, with an emphasis on application. Topics will be briefly discussed from a theoretical/technical perspective in order to provide the reader with the background necessary to correctly use and interpret the statistical analyses that will be presented subsequently. The anticipated audience for this book includes researchers, practitioners, and graduate students searching for a guide to perform common psychometric analyses on various assessments, as discussed in many psychometric texts. We envision that this text will (a) patiently wait on some office shelves begging to be handed to a student as a resource, (b) have a permanent home on desks where it continually rises to the top of the stacks for daily use of the applied researcher, (c) be happily carried in bags to and from work and class by the graduate student learning techniques, (d) be listed proudly as a reference text on syllabi, and finally (e) as an occasional drink coaster while deep thoughts are pondered about how to solve measurement problems. We hope that through such uses, particularly the latter, that we have provided some insight and assistance to the user in appropriately applying the techniques and concepts discussed.