LibGuides: Psychology: Psychological Tests, Scales and Questionnaires

Re-using psychological tests, questionnaires and scales in your own work

Psychological tests, questionnaires and scales usually come in the form of questionnaires with a grading and analysis scheme.

You will find many articles citing research using scales but it can be difficult to source the scales themselves. This is because they are often commercially copyrighted and not available for use without payment or permission - the cost can be several hundred pounds.

This page will help you find suitable questionnaires and explain the process for checking the necessary permissions before using them in your own work.

TORS Specialist Resource Centre

The TORS Specialist Resource Centre are able to provide access to over a hundred psychology questionnaires for student use. Use the 'Tests & Questionnaires' tab on their Bb site to check which tests are available. If you are not enrolled on the site, please email resourcesteamcollegiate@shu.ac.uk.

If they don't have a particular test it may be possible to obtain a copy from the original author who may be happy to help and allow academic use. The Psychology, Sociology and Politics department have a limited budget for obtaining new questionnaires and scales.

APA PsycTests

APA PsycTests is a good sources for finding pre-existing measures/questionnaires. Once you have found one that's useful, you will be able to see whether they have permission to be used for educational purposes.

APA PsycTests This link opens in a new window
This database is published by the American Psychological Association and provides bibliographic, plus full text and multimedia of psychological tests from the early 1900s to the present. Test records include descriptive summaries of the test and its development and administration, mostly drawn from articles in peer-reviewed journals or books, with downloadable tests. 75% of the test records contain the actual test or test items.

Permissions to use tests and questionnaires in your own work

Before using a questionnaire, you must ensure that you have permission from the copyright owner. Follow the below essential steps to check permissions:

Use the record information in APA PsycTests to check what has been specified in the permissions field. The TORS Specialist Resource Centre have created video to help you this (available on their Bb site).
If you need permission to use a questionnaire you may need to contact the author or original publisher.
If the test needs to be purchased the TORS Specialist Resource Centre may be able to do this for you. Please do not pay any fees yourself
If you find a questionnaire you would like to use, send the link to resourcesteamcollegiate@shu.ac.uk from the relevant database so that they can check for permissions to use. This is really important - even if you have been sent the questionnaire by your tutor.

Please also note, that in order to use the questionnaire you will also need how the authors have scored it as some questions may be reverse coded.

Additional sources for finding Psychology questionnaires

Psychology Tools
Psychology Tools is a free to use website dedicated to providing psychology professionals, students, and the general public with transparent access to academically validated psychological assessment tools. We strive to provide test, questionnaires, and assessments in the most streamlined format possible, through a simple interface coupled with automatic scoring.

We only use assessments derived from scholarly psychological journals which have a history of practical application. Our automatic scoring system is designed to save time, prevent human error, and demystify the scoring process. Our results include both raw scores and indicative score ranges wherever possible.
PsyToolkit
PsyToolkit can run online surveys. Here you can find ready-to-run surveys of psychological scales.