Factor Analyses of Three Tests of Critical Thinking

Abstract

FOR SEVERAL decades measurement of crit ical thinking skills and abilities has presented a major difficulty because educators have not agreed on the kind of measurement which should be used. There has even been a lack of agreement regard ing a definition for critical thinking. The problem of measurement is the focus of this study. Ina search for common elements in the operational definitions of critical thinking used by dif f erent researchers, three tests of critical thinking were analyzed. This research arose from the f i n d i ngs of the Illinois Curriculum Program Committee relative to its Critical Thinking Project (9). When the Project Committee and the cooperating teachers wanted to evaluate their attempt to teach the prin ciples of critical thinking, the following three tests were selected for the purpose: the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal, Form Bm; A Test of Critical Thinking, Form G, prepared by the A merican Council on Education; and A Test on Principles of Critical Thinking, Form FI. 5, pre pared by the Project staff (hereafter called the Watson-Glaser, ACE, and Principles tests re spectively). Low intercorrelations were obtained between total scores on any two of these tests. These low intercorrelations led to the inference that there is little relationship between the knowledge of the principles of critical thinking and the ability to use these principles. The Project Commit tee consequently felt the need for more inform a t i o n regarding the internal structure of the three crit ical thinking tests. The technique of factor analysis was used for the purpose of determining whether the tests ac tually do measure what they are supposed to mea sure according to the a priori reasoning of the test makers. The research hypothesis tested was that factor analyses of these three tests of criti cal thinking will yield some common factors a mong the items in these three tests.