This article considers the computerization of an English language placement test for delivery on the World Wide Web (WWW). It describes a pilot study to investigate potential bias against students who lack computer familiarity or have negative attitudes towards technology, and assesses the usefulness of the test as a placement instrument by comparing the accuracy of placement with a pencil-and-paper form of the test. The article focuses upon the process of considering (and discounting) rival hypotheses to explain the meaning of test scores in the validation process.
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Glenn Fulcher (1999) studied this question.