On the Standard Length of a Test

Abstract
(1) A new descriptive parameter for tests, the standard length, is defined and related to reliability, correlation, and validity by means of simplified versions of known formulas. (2) The standard error of measurement is found to be related in simple fashion to the amount of information in a test in the sense of R. A. Fisher. The amount of information is computable as the test length divided by the standard length of the test. (3) The invariant properties of the standard length of a test under changes in length are discussed and proved. Similar results for the correlation coefficient corrected for attenuation and the index of validity are indicated.