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Psychology

Guide to library research in Psychology

Tests, Measures, Scales, or Inventories

Most psychological tests are not freely available, even through library subscriptions. Researchers spend a lot of time and money on developing validated and reliable measurements, and want to get paid for them.

We subscribe to several databases that have tests and measurements:

Tests in Dissertations

Some Ph.D. candidates reproduce tests, measures, or questionnaires in their dissertations.

Go to the database Dissertations and Theses Full Text  (by Proquest) and search the title of the test in quotes, like this: "UCLA Loneliness Scale".

Then open each full text dissertation and see if the Ph.D. candidate included the actual test. They are often included as an appendix, so check the table of contents first! Sometimes they are only referred to, and not reproduced.

A copyright protected instrument will usually be obscured by a blank page indicating copyright material,and you will not be able to see or use it..

If you will be using the measure in a published article, or in your own dissertation, you will need to go to the original source, and not use the dissertation as your source.

If you need the test for a class paper or project, always check with your faculty member before using a dissertation as a source.