Evidence-Based Practice (EBP)

Published tests and measurement and assessment instruments are those available from commercial publishers. Their use is highly restricted.  In most cases, users are required to contact the author or publisher to obtain a copy of the test or instrument or permission to use the test or instrument.  There may be fees involved in the use of published tests or instruments.

Unpublished tests or instruments are not commercially available, but may be located through the resources provided below, such as:

• The ETS Test Database: restricted to UMSL faculty and/or UMSL students (who have had their names submitted by an UMSL professor to complete required course work)
• The Health and Psychosocial Instruments (HaPI) database

Those wishing to administer an unpublished test or instrument will need to consider possible copyright restrictions.  Contacting the author for permission is advisable and often required. 

 The UMSL Libraries DO NOT collect educational or psychological tests or measurement or assessment instruments.

Penn State has published a guide to Finding Psychological and Educational Testing Instruments that might provide answers to some of your questions about locating and using testing, measurement, and assessment instruments. Please note that some information, such as test availability, does not apply to UMSL Libraries.

Adapted from How to Find and Use Testing, Measurement and Assessment Resources by Wayne State University Library System.

The CINAHL database provides the ability to search for instruments, such as questionnaires or scales. It is important to remember that many instruments are protected by copyright and use restrictions, and are not freely available (as explained above).

To see if you can find a specific instrument by name:

• Go to the CINAHL Advanced Search screen.
• In the first search box, type the name of the instrument and select IN Instrumentation from the field drop-down menu.
• Click Search.
• From your search results, you can click on a title in your list, then scroll down to the Instrumentation section of the article to see the title(s) of the instrument(s) used in the article. Again, this won’t necessarily lead you to the actual instrument!

To see if you can find an instrument by type:

• Go to the CINAHL Advanced Search screen.
• In the first search box, type in a search term describing your general area of interest (for example, eating disorders or patient quality).
• In the Search Options section, find the Publication Type search box.
• Select Questionnaire/Scale or Research Instrument (to select both, hold down the CTRL key on a PC or the Command key on a Mac).
• Click on Search.
• From your search results, you can click on a title in your list, then scroll down to the Instrumentation section of the article to see the title(s) of the instrument(s) used in the article. Use the PDF Full Text or Find Full Text link to access the article and the instrument, if available.

Adapted from How to Find and Use Testing, Measurement and Assessment Resources by Wayne State University Library System.

The APA PsycInfo database provides the ability to search for psychological tests and measures. It is important to remember that many such tests are protected by copyright and use restrictions, and are not freely available (as explained above).

To see if you can find a specific instrument by name:

• Go to the APA PsycInfo Advanced Search screen.
• In the Search Options section, find the Tests & Measures search box. Type the name of the instrument followed by the words AND appended.
  • Example: life situations questionnaire AND appended
• Click Search.
• From your search results, you can click on a title in your list, then scroll down to the Tests & Measures or Materials section of the article to see the title(s) of the instrument(s) used in the article. Use the PDF Full Text or Find Full Text link to access the article and the instrument, if available.

To see if you can find an instrument by type:

• Go to the APA PsycInfo Advanced Search screen.
• In the first search box, type in a search term describing your general area of interest (for example, bullying or eating disorders).
• In the Search Options section, find the Tests & Measures search box. Type in the type of instrument followed by the words AND appended.
  • Examples: 
    • survey AND appended
    • questionnaire AND appended
    • (survey AND appended) OR (questionnaire AND appended)
• Click on Search.
• From your search results, you can click on a title in your list, then scroll down to the Tests & Measures or Materials section of the article to see the title(s) of the instrument(s) used in the article. Use the PDF Full Text or Find Full Text link to access the article and the instrument, if available.

Here’s a video demonstration from APA:

Adapted from How to Find and Use Testing, Measurement and Assessment Resources by Wayne State University Library System.