A fundamental issue in educational measurement is what frame of reference to use when interpreting students’ performance on an assessment. One frame of reference that is often used to enhance interpretations of test scores is normative, which adds meaning to test score interpretations by indicating the rank of an individual’s score within a distribution of test scores of a well-defined reference group. One of the most commonly used frames of reference on student achievement provided by test publishers of large-scale assessments is national norms, whereby students’ test scores are referenced to a distribution of scores of a nationally representative sample. A national probability sample can fail to fully represent the population because of student and school nonparticipation. In practice, this is remedied by weighting the sample so that it better represents the intended reference population. The focus of this study was on weighting and determining the extent to which weighting grade 4 and grade 8 student records that are not fully representative of the nation can recover distributions of reading and math scores in a national probability sample. Data from a statewide testing program were used to create six grade 4 and grade 8 datasets, each varying in its degree of representativeness of the nation, as well as in the proximity of its reading and math distributions to those of a national sample. The six datasets created for each grade were separately weighted to different population totals in two different weighting conditions using four different bivariate stratification designs. The weighted distributions were then smoothed and compared to smoothed distributions of the national sample in terms of descriptive statistics, maximum absolute differences between the relative cumulative frequency distributions, and chi-square effect sizes. The impact of using percentile ranks developed from the state data was also investigated. By and large, the smoothed distributions of the weighted datasets were able to recover the national distribution in each content area, grade, and weighting condition. Weighting the datasets to the nation was effective in making the state test score distributions more similar to the national distributions. Moreover, the stratification design that defined weighting cells by the joint distribution of median household income and ethnic composition of the school consistently produced desirable results for the six datasets used in each grade. Log-linear smoothing using a polynomial of degree 4 was effective in making the weighted distributions even more similar to those in the national sample. Investigation of the impact of using the percentile ranks derived from the state datasets revealed that the percentile ranks of the distributions that were most similar to the national distributions resulted in a high percentage of agreement when classifying student performance based on raw scores associated with the same percentile rank in each dataset. The utility of having a national frame of reference on student achievement, and the efficacy of estimating such a frame of reference from existing data are also discussed.

Abstract A psychological test may be defined as an objective and standardized measure of a sample of behaviour. The interpretation of test results is usually based on comparing an individual’s performance to norms based on a representative sample of the population. The present study examined the norms of popular adult tests. The validity of the Wartegg drawing test (WZT) was studied using two rating scales, the Toronto Alexithymia Scale and the Beck Depression Inventory as criterion tests. Weak to moderate correlations were found. It is concluded that the WZT has some validity in the assessment of Alexithymia. Efforts to develop a psychometrically valid and reliable method of interpreting the WZT should be continued. Cross-national and historical analyses of the norms of Wechsler’s adult intelligence scale (WAIS) were performed. The results show that the Finnish WAIS III test norms are distorted in the younger age groups. Significant cross-national and cross-generational differences in relative subtest scores, test profiles were also observed. Differences in general intelligence cannot explain such variations, and educational and cultural factors probably underlie the observed differences. It is suggested that the concept of a national IQ profile is useful for cross-national test validation studies. The validity of a validity scale, the Chapman Infrequency Scale, was studied in the context of a survey study. Results showed that careless responding is significantly more frequent among psychiatric patients relative to healthy respondents. The common procedure of excluding careless responders from final samples may affect the results of survey studies targeting individuals with psychiatric symptoms. Cut-off scores for exclusion should be flexible and chosen according to the demographic and health characteristics of the sample. In conclusion, the results of this study underscore the need for up-to-date and representative test norms for valid test interpretation. / Tiivistelmä Psykologiset testit voidaan ymmärtää otoksiksi tutkittavan käyttäytymisestä. Mittauksen tulosta tulkitaan yleensä vertaamalla sitä tavalliseen tai keskimääräiseen tulokseen eli testinormeihin. Väitöskirjatutkimus tarkastelee suosittujen aikuistestien normien pätevyyttä. Warteggin piirrostestin validiteettia aleksitymian ja depression mittarina tutkittiin käyttämällä vertailukriteerinä kahta lomaketestiä, Toronton aleksitymia-asteikkoa ja Beckin depressioasteikkoa. Mitatut korrelaatiot olivat melko matalia. Tutkimuksen johtopäätöksenä oli, että Wartegg-testi saattaa olla hyödyllinen menetelmä aleksitymian toteamisessa ja että empiiriseen tutkimukseen perustuvaa tulkintamenetelmien kehittämistä pitäisi jatkaa. Tutkimuksessa selvitettiin myös Wechslerin aikuisten älykkyystestien (WAIS) eri versioiden osatestien kansallisten normien välisiä eroja ja eroja ikäkohorttien välillä. Tulokset osoittivat, että suomalaiset WAIS III testinormit ovat vinoutuneet nuorempien ikäryhmien osalta. Tutkimuksessa havaittiin merkitseviä eroja osatestien keskiarvojen suhteissa eli testiprofiileissa eri maiden ja ikäkohorttien välillä. Kyseisiä eroja ei voida selittää älykkyyden yleisellä faktorilla, vaan niiden taustalla on luultavasti koulutukseen ja kulttuuriin liittyviä tekijöitä. Osa eroista kansallisissa testiprofiileissa näyttää olevan luonteeltaan pysyviä, ja tätä tietoa voidaan käyttää hyväksi testinormien pätevyyttä arvioitaessa. Chapmanin vastaustapa-asteikon (CIS) validiteettia tutkittiin Pohjois-Suomen vuoden 1966 syntymäkohortin kyselytutkimusaineistolla. Psykiatrisista oireista kärsivät henkilöt saivat korkeampia pistemääriä kuin terveet vastaajat. Johtopäätöksenä oli, että vastaustapamittarit voivat karsia psykiatrisia potilaita liian herkästi ulos tutkimusjoukosta, mikä voi vääristää tutkimusten tuloksia. Kriteeripistemäärän pitäisi olla joustava ja sen määrityksessä pitäisi ottaa huomioon tutkimusjoukon ominaisuudet. Tutkimukset osoittavat, että testituloksen luotettava tulkinta vaatii ajanmukaiset ja edustavaan otokseen perustuvat testinormit.

Объект исследования – процесс контроля за развитием скоростно-силовых способностей спортсменов различных половозрастных групп. Предмет исследования – возрастная динамика показателей Вингейт-теста спортсменов различного пола и возраста. Цель исследования – определить возрастную динамику показателей Вингейт-теста спортсменов различных половозрастных групп. В результате исследования были изучены особенности скоростно-силовых способностей и их значимость в спортивной деятельности, в результате проведенного тестирования выявлены нормативные показатели развития скоростно-силовых способностей спортсменов разного пола и возраста. Научная новизна исследования: впервые выявлены нормативные значения показателей Вингейт-теста и их динамика для разных половозрастных групп спортсменов: показатели МАМ, скоростной выносливости, а также время достижения пика мощности. Выявлены высокие и недостаточные значения показателей скоростно-силовых способностей для некоторых видов спорта. Практическая значимость работы: определены рекомендованные нормативные показатели Вингейт-теста для спортсменов разных половых и возрастных групп, а также высоких и недостаточных показателей скоростно-силовых способностей спортсменов разных видов спорта. / Study object – control of speed-power abilities of athletes of various age-gender groups. Study subject – age dynamics of Wingate test indicators in athletes of different age and gender. The aim of the proposed research was to determine age dynamics of Wingate-test indicators in athletes of different age-gender groups. Peculiarities of speed-power abilities were studied, as well as its significance in sports practice. We found the normal values of speed-power abilities development in athletes in reference to age and gender. Scientific value: norms of Wingate test parameters (peak power, speed-power endurance and time to peak power attainment) and their dynamics in age-gender groups were found. High and insufficient values of this parameters were determined for some kinds of sports. Practical value: we determined the recommended norms of Wingate test indicators for athletes of different age and gender groups, as well as high and insufficient values of speed-power abilities indicators for athletes from different kinds of sports.