Instructions for Using the Universal Inventory/Test Scorer

 
A JavaScript program called "Universal (Generalized) Test/Inventory Scorer" has 
been written. It will score any objectively scored test or personality inventory 
where each item allows only a single-option response. 
 
 

NOTE: The PC JavaScript version runs on IE 5-6 and NN7 on PC
and the Mac version is known to be successful on IE 5 and NN 4.72 on Mac 
(this Mac version also appears to run on PC IE 5-6). 


As written inventories/tests are limited to 999 items for students/clients to respond to. 
This should be no problem since I know of no inventory much more than 0.6 that
size. Again, each item on the test/inventory can have only one response from the
client (things that require more than that have to be considered one item
per student/client decision). Items may vary in how many options they have.
 
T/F can be mixed with a,b,c ... Items with two or three options can be
mixed with items with any number of other options. (T and "a" are considered
to be the same as are F and "b".)
 
 

 
Using the Scale/Test Scorer: Part 1:
 
The scoring system is represented by a text file like the one shown directly
below. This is a "test scoring example" or an example of how a teacher might
well use the "scale/test scorer" for grading a test. In this example, a
test item scoring example, the student has two choices T or F, or equivalently
"a" or "b".)
 
001 (indicating test item 1)
0000
0010 ("b" or "F" is correct here)
002 (indicating test item 2)
0020 ("a" or "T" is correct here)
0000
003 (indicating test item 3)
0030 ("a" or "T" is correct here)
0000
004
0040
0000
005 (... you got the idea)
0000
0050
 
 
 
Note: Item numbers (or scale numbers) are the first number of each
set (always THREE digits). In this example, the 2 sets of numbers below each 
item number are the items scored up for T (or a) and the items scored up on the Item
(scale) for F (or b), respectively. Obviously when it is a test, the item
scored up is the item number itself (and only one option scores the item up). 
NOTE also that an extra 0 (ZERO) is at the end of each
item-number(s)-scoring-a-scale(or item)-up-for-given-option
line (and all the "0"s shown are ZEROs). (Also, so you understand this thing
conceptually: More than two lines may be below the scale(item) number if
the scale (or item) is scored up for c, d, e ... question option choices.
 
Now, the way an inventory scoring system text file would look, such as one that
would be used by a behavioral scientist scoring a personality inventory.
Here let's consider a true/false inventory (like the MMPI2). It
would have a text scoring system file that looks like this:
 
001
0010040050160180 (these are item numbers scoring Scale 001 up for True)
0020150170 (these are item numbers scoring Scale 001 up for False)
002
0030070090171010 (these are item numbers scoring Scale 002 up for True)
0040160180 (these are item numbers scoring Scale 002 up for False)
 
and so forth. (Do not include explanatory comments shown above in actual scoring
system text file.)

Finally: Also add a scoring section for a last BOGUS item.  
It should look like this:

                     006
                     0000

         (in this example, the test had 5 real items OR the inventory had 5 scales)


 
Teachers and Behavioral Scientists:
Put no spaces (returns) at the top of the scoring system text file, AND
directly after the last zero of the last option of the last item (scale)
have NO returns. MAKING A SCORING SYSTEM TEXT (.txt) file IN RAW TEXT
FORMAT (no wrap), such as Notepad or (on Mac SimpleText) is as simple as that!

Obviously this laborious task of making a scoring system text file need be
done ONLY once. Then large inventories with any number of scales can be
scored as fast as you input the student/client scores.
 
 
 
 
Using the Scale/Test Scorer: Part 2:
The way the response or answer text file (also a .txt document) must be is equally
or more simple: With NO returns at the top of the answer text file and
no EXTRA spaces (returns) between answers, the answer file looks like this:
 
T
F
b
b
a
 
Have NO return after the last answer (when you are ready to save this
text file the cursor should be "sitting" right after the last response).
 
 

 
 
Final elaboration on creating scoring system text files (Part 1 elaboration):
 
To complete the explanation of how to use the Inventory/Test Scoring tool,
I should note that when an Inventory scale is never scored up for a particular
selection or, for a test, when an item option is not used, this must be coded in
the scoring system text file with 4 zeros (0000). Actually you already saw an
example of this for a 2 option type test (in the first example above).
 
On an inventory, where a particular scale is scored up, happenstantially, only
for true OR for false responses, this is the same type of circumstance. The portion of
the scoring system pertaining to such a scale would look like this:
 
 
001
0000 (no items marked T score Scale 1 up )
0040160180
 
OR
 
002
0010040050160180
0000 (no items marked F score Scale 1 up )
 
(Technically this last one could appear in the scoring system text file simply as:
 
002
0010040050160180
 
(no need to have any line for any option/options where that option does not score a
 scale up and beyond which no later scale scores the scale/item up).)
 
Let me provide a couple other examples to make sure the reader understands the
parenthetical note above.:
 
 
 
Let's say you are making a scoring system text file for an inventory, i.e.  
we will use another behavioral scientist inventory example here. Each item answered
by the client has 5 possible choices: a,b,c,d, and e. For this example, let's say
that some particular scale is scored up (happenstantially) only for some certain item
where the client chooses 'a' and for another set of items where the client chooses
'c'. Let's pretend this is scale number 5. The scoring coding for this scale in the
scoring system text file would look like this:
 
005
0010050070191120
0000
0020060080220
 
OR you could do it like this but the extra "0000"s are not necessary:
 
005
00100500700019001200
0000
0020060080220
0000
0000
 
If you happen to be a teacher using this for test scoring and not a behavioral
scientist doing inventory scoring, you should recall that each test item is essentially
a "scale" (also recall that only one response per question is allowed). For you,
the teacher, a test where items offer 4 - 5 choices would have a scoring system that
looks like the following example:

001
0000
0010
002
0000
0000
0000
0020
003
0030
004
0000
0000
0000
0000
0040
 
and so forth (recall that any options below the last option that "counts" need not
be coded -- as in item 001 and 002 and 003 above).

Again: For ANY scoring system:
ADD a scoring section for a last BOGUS item.  It should look like this:

                     006
                     0000

         (in this example, the test had 5 real items OR the inventory had 5 scales)


 
 
The final thing I need to tell users of this software is that while you can use
a Copy menu item OR Ctrl-C to copy your scoring system file, my software has no
menu for paste. Thus you must use Ctrl-V to paste the scoring system (and later
to paste the client/student answers) into the textarea.
 
That's the whole story on how to use it.