In Education and Psychology, "instruments" are questionnaires and other items that are used to study human attitudes or behaviors. They are sometimes called "measures," "questionnaires," "scales," "surveys," or "tests." 

Finding educational/psychological instruments is challenging because:

• No database provides free, full-text copies of every item.
• There could be hundreds of instruments available, depending on the people you want to study and what you want to learn about them.
• Some creators publish their instruments in books and journal articles, while others have sold their tests to publishing companies.

This guide is only a starting point for finding instruments. If you need additional help, contact Ellysa Cahoy (University Park, ellysa@psu.edu), Bernadette Lear (Harrisburg / World Campus, BAL19@psu.edu), or a librarian at your location. 

If you are working on a simple class assignment and just about any instrument will help, try these:

If you are interested in questions about people’s attitudes toward education, health, race, or other social issues, public opinion polls may help. 

CAUTION: These databases contain questions dating back to the 1930s, as well as recent surveys. Also, these databases do not provide information about whether the questions are reliable, valid, or well-designed.