Ideal refers to a concept or standard of perfection, existing as an image in the mind. There are ideal tests, ideal conditions (in which a test has maximum validity), ideal results, etc., which are actually the indications of reliability.
Incomplete Statement Item is a kind of completion type question requiring an examinee to complete the incomplete sentence, by supplying a suitable word or phrase or sentence. It attempts to test one's knowledge and comprehension of the subject of study.
Inconsistent Distractor Cues are the unwanted cues that are to be avoided while preparing multiple choice items. It usually occurs in the form of 'odd one out' type. For example, (a) ate, (b) eats, (c) is eating, and (d) stomach-full. Obviously option (d) differs from other options, both in lexical root and part of speech. This provides an immediate clue to the examinee to take a quick decision in the process of his selecting correct answer.Index refers to a series of numbers that express the changing magnitudes of a complex variable. The term is used where it is admitted that quantification is incomplete or imperfect. Usage of index/indices is prominent in the area of test analysis and item analysis. [Also see, Discrimination Index, Choice Index].
Indirect Measurement is one in which the perceived indication must be transformed to another scale. An example would be the measurement of a rectangular area as it is calculated from the direct measures of length and breadth.
Indirect Test is one that attempts to measure one's behaviour in an indirect way and also in an artificial context (e.g., measurement of vocabulary use through a test of vocabulary recognition or cloze test for measuring overall proficiency).
Individual Scale/Test is one that can be administered to only one person at a time. This is in practice only for the purpose of admissions to higher courses or employment. Now-a-days, it is usually preceded by a screening test or examination. [Also see, Oral Test, Viva-Voce, Group Test].
Information Function of an item refers to the item variance or the product of the proportion who got it correct and the proportion who got it wrong. The item information function is useful to shape up the test information function. If the item variance is high, then the information about the abilities measured is more. A good test is expected to have items with high variance.
Ink Blot is one of the psychological test wherein ink blots are reproduced on paper and the examinees are required to tell what each figure might be. The inner urges, emotions, wishes, etc., could be judged no the basis of their response. This technique may also help to know about their personal and social qualities, habits, attitudes, adjustment status, etc. as this test is based on the mechanism of projection it is classified as 'Projective Technique'.
Integrative Test the knowledge of various skills of a language in a single attempt. For example, a test of language proficiency can be used to measure the knowledge about the language features, comprehension grammar and productive skills. Integrative test may be contrasted with discrete point test that measures only one aspect.
Intelligence is the capacity for reasoning, understanding, proposition and similar forms of mental activity. It has a strong influence over the achievement in the educational fields. More the possession of intelligence yields a high academic achievement in a shorter duration of time. A variety of standardized tests are available for measuring intelligence.
Intelligence Quotient (IQ) is a measure of intelligence. It is computed as the ratio of the individual's mental age to his chronological age. The formula for computing the IQ is,
IQ = Mental Age_____ x 100
Chronological AgeThe IQ of a 10-year old boy/girl whose mental age is 12 years, is computed as
= 12_ x 100 = 120
10Intelligence Test is a psychological test designed to measure cognitive functions, such as comprehension, reasoning, judgement, etc. it consists of both verbal and non-verbal items. Example: Stanard-Binet Intelligence Scale.
Interest is one of the affective non-scholastic aspects of learner's growth. Interests are (Tayler, 1973) commonly defined as 'liking something' or as voluntarily attending to it or engaging in it. Under the non-scholastic areas related to higher education, several kinds of interests, like classroom interest, laboratory interests, institutional interests, other curricular and co-curricular interests, national interests, etc., have been listed by AIU. Checklist, observations, questionnaire, opinion survey, discussion, etc., are some of techniques which could measure this aspect.Internal Assessment is the process in which assessment is done in relation to certain abilities and skills periodically and continuously in certain subject areas. In this process, only the concerned class teacher or the department is involved and not any other external agency. The ratio of marks/credits awarded through internal and external assessment, the following devices/techniques are generally used in the educational institutions:
1) Written Tests
2) Seminars/Discussions
3) Quiz
4) Assignments
5) Fieldwork
6) Practical Work and so onInternal Consistency refers to a group of measures of test reliability that depend on homogeneity of item variance, i.e., the extent to which the items of a test correlate among themselves.
Internal Criterion is one that makes a test better measure of 'what it does measure'. It is applied for judging the discrimination power of a test item when the score on the total test in which the item is a member is used as a basis for selecting students for the high and low achievement groups.
Internal Validation is the process of determining or improving the validity of a test by studying the test items and the overall pattern of the instrument through an internal arrangement. It may also be considered as one of the pre-validation procedures. This procedure may not be trustworthy even if attended by experienced test constructors without external scrutiny.
Inter-rater Reliability is one of the procedures for estimating the reliability of independent ratings. If two or more examiners/raters rate the same performances, then the reliability is estimated by correlating the rating of one examiner with those of the other. Then, it is adjusted by using the Spearman-Brown Prophecy formula:
rtt = (nr A,B)/l + (n-l)r A,B
where, rtt = inter-rater reliability.
N = the number of raters whose combined estimates form
the final mark for the examinees.
rA,B = the correlation between raters or the average correlation
among all raters if there are more than two.Internal Scales are usually obtained by the transformation of ordinal scales. They provide all the information of ordinal scales in terms of rank ordering. In addition to that, a meaningful interval for considering comparative distances between scores, is also provided. One of the uses is to determine the standard scores on a particular test, say, grammar or intonation. Interval scale does not have an absolute zero point, but its intervals are equal. Stanine, T-score, Z-score, Normal distribution area proportion, etc., are some of the common interval scales.
Interview Method is considered as one of the important techniques for the assessment of scholastic as well as non-scholastic aspects of behaviours. It places heavy reliance on verbal report which may be of formal or informal. Interview may be conducted either by an individual or by a group. It provides greater opportunity for flexibility in eliciting information. The methods of interview will usually be differing from one another, depending upon the purpose, the personality of interviewers and the situation. The types of interviews which are in practice, classified by Mutthayya (1984) are as follows :
1) Focused interview,
2) Depth interview,
3) Non-directive interview, and
4) Directed interview.Interview is considered as an effective tool for assessing the growth of abilities both cognitive and affective. This method of assessment will however be only a subjective one.
Intonation Test attempts to measure the ability to pick-out the differences in intonation while pronouncing words. Valette (1967, p.63) suggests the following types of items which may form parts of an intonation test :
1) Discrimination: Same Vs. Different,
2) Linear representation, and
3) MeaningIntroversion-Extroversion is a test to find out the degree to which a person tends to be an introvert or an extrovert.
[Introversion: - the direction of interest inward, as in preoccupation with one's own thoughts and feelings.
Extroversion: - the direction of interest outward or to objects outside the self, as toward the external environment].
Inventory is one of the techniques used for collecting information from the respondent. It usually includes a large number of questions, so that the respondents can reveal all their interests, attitudes, adjustments, personality, values, habits, etc.Issues in evaluation programmes, refer to the actual questions/hurdles which (are argued about), come in the way of implementation. They are visualized at the stage of 'objective setting' in the planning process. Issues are broken down into a number of typologies for operational purposes and which would form basis for strategy formulation and effective evaluation.
ITED Score is an abbreviated form of lowa Test of Educational Development score. It is one of the derived scores, obtained on the basis of the raw score mean and standard deviation of the group.
ITED score = 5Z + 15
Where, Z = x - x#
σxi.e., raw score – mean_
S.D.Item refers to an entire 'question'. The word 'item' is preferred because it does not imply interrogative form. 'Items' are usually associated with objective types and 'questions; and with subjective types (supply types). Items may be of any kind and not necessarily be grammatical questions.
Item Analysis is a statistical procedure used for evaluating the test items. It is valuable only with the tests administered for grouping or grading the students and for the items on mastery tests. Item difficulty (Facility value, Item discrimination power and Content validity are the three major elements of item analysis which would be broadly based on the following factors :
1) The number of candidates attended the item and those who have done it correctly.
2) Maximum marks obtained on that item.
3) Objective tested by the item.
4) Specification on which the item is based.
5) Topics and the sub-topics covered by the item.
6) Approximate time required for answering the item.
7) Marks allotted to it.
All these details pertaining to each item can be given in a tabular form, so that one can get the overall idea about the validity of a particular item as well as the whole test of which it is a member. Further details of these elements have been dealt with in separate entries.
Item Bank refers to a Question Bank. It is a collection of classified test items/questions of different types with all the predetermined statistical information. These Question Banks are established mainly to provide the questions with known (statistical) information to the teachers/examining bodies for the purpose of developing tests and examinations at different levels.Item Difficulty (Facility Value) is one of the major qualities of an item determined by the item analysis. It is estimated as the proportion of test takers who answer the item correctly to those who attempt the item. If the item is more difficult, only a few will select the correct option.
Item File consists of a number of classified test items. The purpose of this is to enable the teacher to arrange items for easy reference and for quicker test constructions. Each question/item is typed or written on a file card or paper. The size of the card, formats, the classifications, etc., may be decided depending on the convenience and specific requirements of the users.Item Response Theory [See, Latent Trait Theory].
Item Stem refers to the initial part of a 'multiple choice question/item'. It may be of either a partial sentence (to be completed) or a question or a set of statements leading to a question (to be answered) or incomplete phrase (to be completed).
Item-test Correlation is the coefficient of correlation between scores on the item and scores on the test as a whole.