Draft 1: Standardized Voodoo: Biases in Educational Testing

This research topic submitted by Dan Mess (roman@muc.muohio.edu) on 2/24/98.

In my poster presentation, and in my research project, I will be looking at the GRE and possibly the SAT as prime examples of unfair, biased tests that mismeasure intelligence/academic success and tend to privilege white, middle to upper class, males. My background text is Stephen Jay Gould's /The Mismeasure of Man/, particularly his sections on the acceptance of IQ testing in this country as an adequate and reliable index of one's true intelligence.


I predict that the SAT and GRE are biased because too much of the tests are based on cultural knowledge instead of measuring any sort of true aptitude. I hope to be looking at studies that show correlations between SAT and GRE scores and grades in higher education. I am also weighing the possibility of administering a survey on Western to see if SAT scores were a reliable predictive method for grade point average at Miami. I could also do a quantitative analysis of the research done and articles published ont his subject.

Next Article
Previous Article
Return to the Topic Menu

Here is a list of responses that have been posted to this Study...

Important: Press the Browser Reload button to view the latest contribution.

Respond to this Proposal!

IMPORTANT: For each Research Response, make sure the title of the response is different than previous titles shown above!

Response Title:
Author(s):

E-Mail:
Optional: For Further Info on this Topic, Check out this WWW Site:
Response Text:


Article complete. Click HERE to return to the Research Menu.