P
Paper-and-Pencil Test refers to the test requiring written answers. Most of the group tests belong to this category only.
Parallel Forms refer to the parallel versions of a test. They are constructed in such a way that the content and the statistical characteristics are similar. In other words, every item in one form is matched by a similar item in the other form. Reliability is estimated by administering both versions of the test to the same group of individuals and by correlating the two sets of scores obtained. This is one of the several methods used for estimating reliability. [Syn.: Equivalent Forms].
Parameter refers to an unknown quantity which may vary over a set of values. In testing, it represents quantitative characteristics of a population. It is estimated many a times only by means of a statistic, I view of the inaccessibility of populations.
Part-whole Overlap "is a phenomenon that occurs when a component variable (such as item scores) is correlated with a composite variable (like test scores). The inflation due to the presence of the component in the composite can be removed by correction" (Henning, 1987, p.195). This correction procedure is useful for the computation of internal item validity.
Passage Item (Reading) refers to a paragraph, a poem or a conversation accompanied by a set of questions requiring the answers from the passage. They ae the best among the known reading comprehension tests. It is necessary that the questions accompanying the passage are genuine in order to enable the teacher to evaluate how well the student has understood the passage.
Pass-Fail marks indicate the status of a student, whether he has completed the course of study satisfactorily or not.
Path Analysis is a statistical procedure used to compare the efficacity of two or more empirical models used for explaining the casual relationships underlying language learning for a group of students in an instructional programme.
Peer/Peer Group - peer refers to a person or a companion or associate having the same level of age or endowment, who is deemed to be an equal for the purpose of administering a test or questionnaire; the group with whom the person is associated in view of its approximate equality is called the 'peer group'.
Peer Rating is the rating done by one's own peers. It is one of the several modes of collecting information, on the basis of which a comprehensive evaluation is usually done for the purpose of assessing the overall growth of a learner.
Percentage Score is the score obtained in percentage. It is equal to the number of correct items divided by the total number of items on the test and the resultant being multiplied by 100. for example, percentage score of a testee with a raw score of 20 in a test of 25 items will be -
20_ x 100 = 80
25Percentile [See, Percentile Rank or Score].
Percentile Band is a range of percentile within which an examinee's true score on a test is likely to fall.
Percentile Norm is a norm given in terms of the percentile standings of individuals on the test.
Percentile Score or Rank is often referred to as a percentile. It is a score or point in a distribution below which is a give percentage of cases falls. If 80% of the cases fall below a give score, then the score is at the 80th percentile. In other words, while saying that an individual gets 72 marks in Tamil language spelling test, it would also be useful to say that his rank is 10th in a group of 50 individuals. It means that he is better than 40 individuals of the group. In order to make this statement more meaningful, it is often expressed in terms of percentage of cases which are below the score of 72. in this example, 40 individuals have scored below 72. Hence, the percentile rank for the score 72 is calculated as,
40_ x 100 = 80
50The percentile rank obtained is 80. the interpretation of percentile rank is simple and straight forward.
Perception is the first among the seven hierarchical levels of the psychomotor behaviour. It is the process of becoming aware of objects, qualities or relations through sense organs. There are three stages through which perception takes place :
1) Sensory stimulation
2) Cue selection
3) TranslationSince it happens to be a part of learning objectives the growth of which needs evaluation.
Performance Test requires an examinee to demonstrate his skill by manipulating objects or instruments. Thorndike and Hagen (1977, p.137) relate it to a non-verbal test requiring no use of language or numbers. Sattler (1982, p.641) too is of the same opinion as he defines it as the performance test composed of items that do not involve the use of language either oral or visual, except for the interpretations and directions. However, Carroll and Hall (1985, pp.24-168) differ from this. They say that the performance test is one that requires application of language skills in an actual or stimulated setting. Such tests are skill based rather than knowledge based and involving doing things with the assistance of language.
Periodical Test/Examination is one which is administered periodically. It may be once in a week or fortnight or a month. This will provide evidence for determining the need and the means to categorise the students, individualise instruction, diagnose, plan remedies and perhaps make decisions for placement and promotion.
Personality refers to "the complex of characteristics that gives a particular person identity, distinguishing him or her from other persons. A person's appearance, habits, attitudes, interests, values, and knowledge all contribute to personality. How that personality is perceived by others depends mainly on the individual's behaviour in social situations" (Ebel, 1983, p.378).
Personality Test is administered to an examinee for assessing one's personality which is usually perceived as his behaviour in social situation.
Personality Trait refers to the quality of a person that accounts for his growth in emotional, temperamental and social behaviour. It is a trait that accounts for differences in personality. This trait generally does not include cognitive abilities.
Personal Quality is one of the non-scholastic aspects of learners' growth closely related to language education. Regularity, hard work, originality, initiative, experimental, keenness, imagination, persuasiveness, inventiveness, creativity, etc., are some of the personal qualities which a learner is expected to develop during the course of his learning especially at the higher education.
Person Separability is another term for reliability or consistency of measurement.
Phi Coefficient refers to a measure of relationship between variables that are divided into two qualitatively discrete groups, e.g., mothers and daughters; teachers and students, etc. Phi coefficient is also written as F coefficient in Mathematics and Statistics.
Pilot Testing is a kind of trial testing and is one of the steps/stages towards the establishment of standardization. In this step/stage, the items prepared are kept in a test format and are administered to a small sample of population for obtaining some preliminary information such as time length for sub tests, clarity of instructions, the suitability of test items for testees, the appropriateness of the distractors, and any other observations that may be useful for refining the test. The sample size may be of 50-100, selected as per the stratified random sampling.
PIQ is an intelligence quotient computed from performance test scores. 'P' stands for performance.
Placement refers to an individual's fitness to a specific level, position or status. It involves diagnosis and selection. This is one of the six purposes of evaluation.
Platy Kurtic [See, Kurtosis].
Point Biserial Correlation is the product moment correlation between a continuous variable and another variable represented by a dichotomy, e.g., the relation of height (a continuous variable) to a sex (a dichotomy). This is one of the most common techniques used for the computation of item discriminability. The formula for Point Biserial Correlation is given below :
rpbi = x#p - x#q_ Ö pq
sx
n = the number of items in the test.
x# = the mean of scores on the test.
St2 = the variance of test scores.
x#p = the mean total score for examinees who pass
the item.
x#q = the mean total score for examinees who fail
the item
sx = the standard deviation of test scores
p = the proportion of examinees who pass the item
q = the proportion of examinees who fail the itemPoint Scale is one that consists of a group of test items/problems to each of which a numerical credit is given for success. This type of scale is used to measure the growth of an examinee's general awareness.
Population refers to any finite or infinite collection of individuals and does not necessarily refer to a collection of living organisms. A population (of anything) is the whole number of all who belong to a particular set or collection. Specimen - one or more of this population - becomes a sample.
Portfolio Evaluation is one of the techniques used for the evaluation of instructional programmes. It involves the maintenance of descriptive files by teachers and administrators to record the teaching-learning experiences of ongoing programmes. 'Portfolio' refers to 'a common file case', where the experiences/comments collected from various sources are inserted.
Possible Range refers to the range of scores maximum possible on a test, i.e., from the lowest to he highest. For a test of50 items the possible range of scores will be from 0-50. [see, Effective Range].
Post-Test is one which is administered to the learners at the end of a course or training programme. It would help determine the extent to which the students have profited from the course or training programme in comparison with the learner's entry behaviour.
Power Test is one that provides ample time to the test takers so that every one of them can try all the items. In power tests, the items are usually difficult.
Practical Work/examination attempts to test the skills of an examinee through the exercises performed by him. Traits like completeness , neatness and regularity will usually be the components of practical work/examination. Practical can be of laboratory work, fieldwork or environmental study, depending on the nature of the subject. Some of the skills expected to be evaluated through such examinations are: (a) drawing of diagrams and sketches from observed facts, (b) collection of specimens like verbs, nouns, attributes, etc., in languages, (c) display of materials collected, (d) improvisation of simple performance in listening speaking, reading and writing, and (e) construction of models. This work/examination involves the application of knowledge, the use of theoretical concept and practical investigations.
Pragmatic Language Test is a kind of integrative test. As per Oller and Perkins (1978, p.21) a test of language proficiency must challenge the student's ability to process sequences of linguistic elements under constraints of time and to relate strings of the language elements to the broader context of experience. Tests that meet these two requirements are called pragmatic language tests. {Also see, Communication, Communicative Competence Test, Proficiency Test}.
Precis Writing is a kind of composition given to the students periodically during class hours, as well as in the examinations. It requires the examinees to condense the given passage or paragraph, by using his abilities of skimming and scanning, to the required length usually 1/3. it helps to measure the abilities of comprehension, synthesis, etc.
Prediction is one of the six purposes of evaluation. Different kinds of tests like entrance test, aptitude test, pre-test, etc., would help discover one's potentials and aptitudes to predict his probable future successes.
Predictive Validity of a test indicates how accurately it predicts the intended performance of an examinee. An admission test is said to have predictive validity if its scores highly correlate with the course grades of the examinee in future.
Preliminary Tryout is a trial testing. The purpose this step would be to obtain information about the item characteristics (item difficulty, item discrimination, etc.) on the basis of which the retention of the item would be decided for the final version of the test. {Also see, Pilot Testing}.
Pre-published Examination is one in which the questions included in the final examination will be published in advance can prepare their answers for these questions in any way they wish. However, they will not be permitted to take these answers with them into the examination hall. The purpose of this is to reduce the element of question spotting in examinations and also to reduce the stress. [Also see, Open Book, Open Time Exams.].
Pre-Test is the one which is administered at the beginning of a course or training programme. It would help determine the entry behaviour of the learners and also to predict the extent to which a learner can profit from the course. [Ant.: Post-Test].
Probability refers to the likelihood of an event to occur. It is the ratio of the number of actual occurrences to that of possible occurrences.
Probable Error "of a set of test scores is the median error of measurement, in absolute value. Half the errors of measurement are larger and the other half smaller than the probable error of measurement" [Ebel, 1979, p.378].
Problem in its regular use, refers to a numerical problem only. However, in the area of programme evaluation, as visualized by Tripathy (1985), it refers to a sub-normal condition identified in a country or in an area or in a course of study by the use of secondary data or field or classroom observation. Thus, identification of problem in its correct form is the first step towards project formulation. Identification of subnormality is, however, not equivalent to identify a project/programme. It is only a first step in that direction. Problem solving questions are administered to measure one's higher order complex abilities.
Problem Solving Question requires the examinee to provide solution to the problems. A situation representing a problem may be given. Solution may be of verbal explanatory answers or numerical working. There will be only one answer or one form of answer for close ended problems, whereas open ended problems have many forms of solutions. Close ended problems ensure reliable working. Questions of this kind help to evaluate the higher order abilities of the students.
Product Moment Correlation Coefficient is an index of relationship between two variables. The product moment correlation is so termed because its numerator is the first product moment or covariance of the two variables concerned. The Statistics Dictionary [p.119] defines it as,
p =Covariance (x,y)/{Var(x) Var(y)}1/2
p = product moment correlation coefficient.
x, y = are the two variablesProficiency Test as viewed by Brooks (1964), should show how complete a mastery has been acquired when a well-rounded course involving language competence, cultural insight, and literary acquaintance has been completed. However, Valette (1967) explains it as a student's level of achievement I reference to a specific type of employment or instruction. The proficiency should reflect not how much the student knows (as is the case with the achievement test), but whether has mastered specific type of employment or instruction. The proficiency should reflect not how much the student knows (as is the case with the achievement test), but whether has mastered specific skills and content deemed pre-requisites for a particular job or course of study. In the represent days, it is used (Srivastava, et al., 1988) for predicting how well an individual, after certain number of years of normal education, can communicate in a content-free and context-free manner across a wide variety of situations. Such a measure would test the knowledge of language in use abstracted from content-based instruction.
Profile is a graphic device that displays a student's scores on several tests in a common scale. It thus helps to know the overall strengths and weaknesses of a student. The profile will be more meaningful if the scores on all the tests are comparable based on the same standard scale.
Prognosis is the prediction of one's achievement on a course, or the duration or the possible outcome.
Prognostic Test is one which is administered to predict one's success in a specific subject or field. It is often referred as aptitude test. Prognostic test is therefore designed to predict the success or failure of the candidates in future. [Also see, Aptitude Test, Pre-Test].
Programme at the outset, refers to a list of items that are to take place one after the other in a plan. But I evaluation, it would refer to a number of steps that are to be followed in a systematic way towards the formation of a value judgement. It provides an overall development of a plan and is supported by a number of projects. In the hierarchy of the planning process, the placement of 'programme' comes before the 'project'. [Also see, Project].
Programme Evaluation is the retrospective analysis of experience to determine the extent to which the stated goals of the programme have been achieved. It is an important method for making sound decisions about improving, expanding or discontinuing educational and training programmes.
Progress Test is designed to measure the quantum of mastery achieved by learners in the material taught or skills in which they are trained.
Progressive Matrices Test is one of the non-verbal tests. It is designed to measure general intelligence. It consists of about sixty abstract but incomplete designs. The missing part in each design has to be inserted or completed by an examinee and for which alternatives have also been provided. However, it is not free from all biases.
Project is a specialized arrangement or activity or any set exercise addressed to a particular problem or improving upon a particular situation. It is used as one of the techniques for the assessment of scholastic as well as non-scholastic abilities. One's higher order abilities and personal qualities such as attitude, creativity, original thinking, insights, etc., would help complete a project in a systematic way. Projects are considered supportive to programmes and hence there may be several projects in a programme. [Also see, Programme].
Projective Technique is one of the devices used for the personality study. It is based on the 'projection' and indicates mechanism of one's own unconscious desires in some external objects. The inner urges, wishes, emotions, etc., which are not visible to others and to learner himself, may be identified and assessed through this technique. Word association test, Sentence comprehension test, Drawing and painting, Role playing, etc., are some of the tools which would help get the desires of the learners projected.
Project Work is considered to be one of the devices used for measuring the scholastic higher order abilities besides some of the non-scholastic behaviours. Cliff and Imrie (1981) consider it as a special form of the 'take home examination'. It provides for a topic to be studied at a greater depth than would normally be covered in the classroom or lecture. The project usually requires the student to undertake independent study and enquiry. This work is also useful to assess the retrieval skills and the organization of information.
Pronunciation Test is designed to measure the accuracy of uttering individual sounds in isolation and in context. Usually every test item concentrates on only one aspect of the pronunciation.
Psychomotor Domain of the Taxonomy of Educational Objectives (TEO) is associated with perception, that is, sensory awareness of objects or relationships and qualities. This domain has precisely been divided into seven hierarchical levels, viz., perception, set, guided response, mechanism, complex overt response, adaptation and organization. However, no classification of this domain has been fully adopted. Further details of individual levels have been dealt with under separate entries.
Psychomotor Skills are the behavioural developments associated with the motor effects of psychological processes known as physical skills and muscular abilities. Behaviours involved in this domain (psychomotor) generally fall into the following three categories [Papalia, 1976, p.69]:
1) Body movements
2) Non-verbal communication behaviours
3) SpeechThese behaviours are closely related to the field of Physical Education, Laboratory and Home Sciences, Art, Music, etc. Physical/practical skills like handling of apparatus/tools, typing, handwriting, operation of machinery, etc., are some of the examples of psychomotor skills.
Psychomotor Tests are designed and administered for assessing the motor skills. The score in such tests depends upon the precise coordination of a sensory or ideational process and a motor activity, e.g., aiming at a target, and riding a motor cycle, etc.
Puzzle is a kind of riddle to test one's thinking. The answers for this have to be built on the basis of the clues provided. Puzzles are mostly in the form of diagrams and are provided with minimum clues and maximum distracters.