Finding Research Instruments, Surveys, and Tests: PsycINFO

PsycINFO is the major database of psychology information and indexes published research in psychology since 1967. There are multiple ways to search for research instruments in PsycINFO. The most appropriate for you depends on what you want to know.

When searching by the name of a research instrument, it is often most effective to use a unique term or phrase from the name of the instrument, instead of the exact name.

PsycINFO records will mention if the author developed a research instrument in the context of the study. They will include the university or organizational affiliation of the authors. You may write to the author and ask for more information about the test or research instrument and its acquisition.

TESTS & MEASURES searches for the names of published tests and measurements used by a study. Go to the Limiters in PsycINFO (scroll down on the Advanced Search page or click Read More on the left menu of the Results page).

1. Next to TESTS & MEASURES, enter the specific name of the research instrument or a word from the name.
2. Click Search

To search for material about specific research instruments, search for the name of your research instrument iteslf as an assigned Subject Heading using the drop-down list. (Use the thesaurus feature to find different subject headings in PsycINFO.)

1. Enter the specific name of the research instrument and Select SU Subjects from the drop-down list
2. Click Search

SU Subjects = search for a word or phrase anywhere in the subject heading fields
MJ Word in Major Subject Heading = search for a word or phrase that is a major topic of the work anywhere in the Major subject heading field
DE Subjects (Exact) = search for a word or phrase that exactly matches an existing subject heading anywhere in the subject heading fields

To search for material unsing or about research instruments, search for the appropriate Subject Heading using the drop-down list. Use the thesaurus feature to find different subject headings in PsycINFO.

1. Enter your search terms on your topic in the first search box and
2. Enter Measurement in the second search box and select SU Subjects from the drop-down list
3. Click Search

Sample PsycINFO Subject Headings (substitute for "Measurement" in the search above)

• Aptitude measures
• Attitude measures
• Educational measurement
• Employment tests
• General Health Questionnaire  
• Intelligence tests
• Interviews
• Inventories
• Mail Surveys  
• Measurement  
• Performance tests
• Personality measures
• Psychological assessment
• Questionnaires
• Rating scales
• Surveys
• Telephone Surveys
• Test construction