A. How do I identify instruments using concepts as search terms?

For nursing related concepts, try searching the CINAHL database for research reports in your subject area. The titles of any tools or instruments used by the author are given in the research instruments field.

Marilyn Frank-Stromborg and Sharon J. Olsen have edited a book, Instruments for Clinical Health-care Research (Boston: Jones and Bartlett, 2004), in which they have organized brief descriptions of research tools according to concepts. An extensive bibliography at the end of each chapter usually contains the journal article citation where the author reported on the instrument. The book is available in Dana Library and the Library of Science and Medicine in the reference section (DANA, LSM REF RT 81.5 .I57 2004)

Health and Psychosocial Instruments (HAPI), a database compiled by staff at the University of Pittsburgh, provides bibliographic access to measurement tools in health related areas, psychosocial science, and organizational behavior as well as library and information science. The range of instrument types is broad. Questionnaires, interview schedules, checklists, index measures, coding schemes and manuals, rating scales, projective techniques, scenarios and tests are included. The database covers the years 1985 to the present. (Rutgers-restricted Access)

For psychosocial concepts, the above sources are helpful as well as PsycINFO, the journal literature index for psychology. All journal article citations include an abstract that gives the titles of the instruments used in the research study. You might also search on the appropriate subject and then limit the results using "tests and measures." (Rutgers-restricted Access)

For biomedical concepts, try CINAHL and Medline. (Rutgers-restricted Access)

There are several print and electronic resources that offer broad subject coverage of research instruments. These include:

Mental Measurements Yearbook. Highland Park, NJ: The Mental Measurements Yearbook, 1941- .
ALEXANDER, CAMDEN, DANA REF Z 5814 .P8 B932 and LSM REF LB 1131 .B967

Test Critiques. Kansas City, MO: Test Corporation of America, c1984-1994.
CAMDEN, DAN, LSM REF BF 698.5 .T48

Tests in Print: An Index to Tests, Test Reviews, and the Literature on Specific Tests. Lincoln, NE: Buros Institute of Mental Measurements, University of Nebraska-Lincoln: distributed by the University of Nebraska Press, 1999.
(ALEXANDER, DANA, LSM REF LB 1131 .B4672)

ETS Test Collection Catalog. Phoenix, AZ: Oryx Press, 1986-1992, 1993.
ALEXANDER, DANA, LSM REF LB 3051 .E79 1986 v. 1-6 and REF LB 3051 .E79 1993 v. 1-2.

Tests: A Comprehensive Reference for Assessments in Psychology, Education, and Business. Kansas City, MO: Test Corporation of America.
ALEXANDER, DANA, LSM REF BF 176 .T43 1986 and ALCOHOL, CAMDEN REF BF 176 .T43 1997.

TestLink, a database available on the Web provides electronic access to the records of the Educational Testing Service test collection. The 25,000 item collection contains measures for most subject areas. A keyword search leads to a test record with three sections, a description, instructions on how to obtain a copy of the tool (the author's address, a journal citation, or the ETS Library), and suggestions to expand your search. (Use Internet Explorer for this Website.) Before you purchase a test, please read C. How do I locate a copy of the instrument? Section 5.

Test Reviews Online gives electronic access to the critical reviews published in the Mental Measurements Yearbook. Test reviews may be located by searching an alphabetical listing, categorized listing arranged in 18 subject groups, or by keyword.

B. How do I evaluate instruments for reliability and validity?

PsycINFO and HAPI provide information on evaluation. Instruments may be tested or research replicated to determine reliability and validity. Articles are easily identified by searching with keywords from the instrument's title. (Rutgers-restricted Access)

C. How do I locate a copy of the instrument?

This aspect of working with research tools may often be the most challenging. Some surveys are available commercially. However you are often required to purchase multiple copies. Try the following options instead.

Look in books that include instruments and administration procedures.
- For nursing related concepts, there are two books with tests:
  
  Measurement of Nursing Outcomes is edited by Carolyn F. Waltz and Ora L. Strickland (New York: Springer Publishing Company, c1988-1992, 2001- ).
  DANA, LSM RT 85.5 .M434 1988 v. 1-4 and CAMDEN, DANA REF RT 85.5 .M434 2001 v. 1- .
  
  The subject coverage includes client outcomes, nursing performance, clinical skills and professional development outcomes, and client self-care and coping skills. The contributors wrote reports that follow a measurement protocol format. The protocol sections include a literature review on the outcome variable, an analysis of existing tools, the conceptual basis, purpose of the measurement toool, procedures for further development of the tool, the administration and scoring process, and the methodology for testing the tool's reliability and validity.
  
  Instruments for Measuring Nursing Practice and other Health Care Variables, is edited by Mary Jane Ward and Carol A. Lindeman under the auspices of the Division of Nursing in the U. S. Health Resources Administration (Hyattsville, MD: The Administration, 1979.)
  DANA REF RT 73 .U56 1979 v. 1-2.
  
  In two volumes, the editors have included copies of clinical and psychosocial tools and administration methods. However the book's usefulness may be limited due to the publication date. Tests that are still employed by researchers have usually been modified through ongoing research.
- For clinical psychology related concepts, measurement tools and administration procedures are included in:
  
  Joel Fischer and Kevin Corcoran, Measures For Clinical Practice: A Sourcebook. (New York: Free Press, 2000).
  
  The authors cover measures for couples, families, and children in volume 1 and measures for adults in volume 2. Their scope is limited to rapid assessment instruments that practitioners might use to monitor and evaluate clients' progress in coping with common problems. The authors have included a title and a subject index.
  CAMDEN, DANA, LSM REF BF 176 .C66 2000 v. 1-2.
- Search the Website:
  
  Tests and Measures in the Social Sciences: tests available in compilation volumes.
  
  Helen Hough, a librarian from the Health Sciences Library, University of Texas, Arlington, has created and continues to update the database by listing the tests in compilation volumes and attaching a citation for the source. Over 121 source volumes have been analyzed to develop a list of 10,800 measures.
  
  After locating the compilation volume for your test, search IRIS to check the availability of the book at a Rutgers Library.

Ask a College of Nursing faculty member with a similar research interest.

Write to the authors.

Search CINAHL. CINAHL's producers are expanding the number of surveys available in full text. The record contains a detailed description of the tool and administration procedures. CINAHL has obtained permission from the author to create this access point. (Rutgers-restricted Access)

Request a microfiche copy from the Library of Science and Medicine's Tests in Microfiche series. The microfiche sets have tests from the collection of the Educational Testing Service. You may search the ETS collection electronically at the TestLink Web site. Any test with the ETS Library in the "Contact Information" section is available for request. The test collection may also be searched through the print catalogs although they are not as up to date as the Test Locator. Dana Library has the print catalogs available in the reference collection (DANA REF LB 3051 .E79 1986). To place your request, find the Tests in Microfiche record in IRIS and click on the button. Be sure to add the title, author, and ETS tracking number of the measure in the "Additional information" box.

Purchase a copy of the test. TestLink and Test Reviews Online provide purchase information for the tests included in the databases. The tests are available for download; however, the tests are also in microfiche format through the Rutgers Libraries. See last paragraph in Section 5 above.

Commercial vendors also make tests available for purchase. Many of the vendors participate in the Association of Test Publishers. Information about the member publishers may be located on the Association's Website. However, there is no search feature to find the appropriate publisher by test name.

D. What other resources are available?

Finding Tests and Measures is an extensive finding aid covering behavioral and social sciences from the Alexander Library.

Testing and Assessment from the American Psychological Association. Good advice about how to search for information on psychological tests. Most of the print resources described are held at the Dana Library.