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Scenario
As the ICU supervisor, you have been asked to do a study to measure burnout in your department’s hard-working nursing staff.
What tests are available to measure burnout in nursing staff?
Preliminary Questions
- What is your purpose for testing?
- What population are you testing?
- Do you know what you want to measure?
- Do you have any test selection criteria?
- Does the test meet its intended purposes?
Identify Variable to Measure
Define what you want to measure:
- What terms describe the variable?
- Is it measurable?
- Is it too broad or too narrow?
- Consider all possible related terms
Example: burnout, job satisfaction, occupational stress
Locate sources of measurement information
- Measurement handbooks
- Dictionaries and thesauri
Set Up Test Selection Criteria
Read some guidelines:
- Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing
http://www.apa.org/science/programs/testing/standards.aspx - Code of Fair Testing Practices in Education
http://www.apa.org/science/programs/testing/fair-code.aspx
Setup your selection criteria:
- Does it measure what you want it to measure?
- How are you planning to use it?
- Is it appropriate for your subjects?
- Is it available? Is there a cost? Is it copyrighted?
- How often has it been used or cited?
- Has it been reviewed?
- Have you seen a sample?
- Other characteristics: purpose, age or grade level, format, length of time, language, statistical validity & reliability, administration, scoring services, etc.
Browse Test Sources
- There are a number of online and print sources for locating tests.
- Some are in standard test sources and others in the research literature.
- Some are full-text while others are citation only.
- When searching sources apply standard or alternative terms in the search box and use special search fields.
- Use your test criteria above to make your selection.
- Also look at standard test reviews to insure appropriate use and coverage.
CINAHL Plus 
Detailed Description | Search Tips
Cumulative Index to Nursing & Allied Health Literature.
Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC)
Detailed Description | Search Tips
Database covering education journals, reports, proceedings, and curriculum materials.
ETS Test Collection (Test Link)
Detailed Description | Search Tips
A database of descriptive information for over 25,000 tests from varying fields with an emphasis on education; includes Tests in Microfiche.
PsycInfo
Detailed Description | Search Tips
Database indexing the literature of psychology.
PsycTESTS
Detailed Description | Search Tips
Database focused on information regarding psychological tests.
PubMed
Detailed Description | Search Tips
Database of the biomedical literature.
Sociological Abstracts
Detailed Description | Search Tips
Database of sociological literature including social policy, planning, and development
UW Catalog
Detailed Description | Search Tips
Cumulative holdings of the University of Washington Libraries.
