Table of Contents
Taxonomies
Taxonomy I
Taxonomy II
Taxonomy III
Taxonomies I - II - III
Taxonomies II - III
Appendices
Appendix A – Units of measurement and symbols
Appendix B – Special characters
Appendix C – Standard spellings for terms with prefixes
Appendix D – Style guide development history
TABLE OF CONTENTS
‣ TAXONOMY I
A. RULES GOVERNING STEMS ONLY
1.1 –
Who
,
what
,
when
,
where
,
why
and
how
questions
‣ TAXONOMY II
A. RULES GOVERNING STEMS ONLY
2.1 –
How
,
what
and procedures
2.2 – Codebooks
B. RULES GOVERNING BOTH STEMS AND RESPONSES
2.3 –
How
+ actions =
By doing
2.3.1 –
How
+ 1 action
2.3.2 –
How
+ 2 or more actions
‣ TAXONOMY III
A. RULES GOVERNING STEMS ONLY
3.1 –
What happens
,
correct the problem
, cause and effect, calculations
‣ TAXONOMIES I, II and III
A. RULES GOVERNING STEMS ONLY
4.1 – Place question at end of stem
4.1.1 – Single statement + question
4.1.1.1 – Interrogative at beginning of stem — Exception
4.1.2 – Avoid long sentence(s) + question in stem
4.2 – Only 1 subject in the question of a stem
4.3 – Avoid open‑ended questions
4.4 – Avoid true / false phrasing
4.5 –
Which
vs
What
4.5.1 –
Which
4.5.2 –
What
4.6 – Non‑affirmative wording
4.6.1 – Modal verbs —
could / would / should / can / will / shall
4.6.2 – Conjunction
If
4.6.3 – Conjunction
When
4.7 – Negatives
4.7.1 – Negatives are bolded
4.7.2 – Making a negative statement positive
4.8 –
And
,
but
4.8.1 –
But
— Exception
4.9 – Round brackets (parentheses)
4.9.1 – When to use round brackets
4.9.2 – When NOT to use round brackets
4.9.2.1 – Outside the stem
4.9.2.2 – Inside the stem
4.10 – Safety and codebook items —
Required / requirement
4.11 – Avoid clues in stem or responses
B. RULES GOVERNING BOTH STEMS AND RESPONSES
4.12 –
Why
and
what is the purpose / function / reason
questions
4.13 –
Where
questions
4.14 –
When
questions
4.15 – Only 1 subject in the question of a stem + only 1 correct answer per response
4.16 –
Safe(ly)
,
proper(ly)
,
accurate(ly)
,
efficient(ly)
4.16.1 – Exceptions
4.17 – Subjective terminology —
Best
,
most
,
-est
4.18 – Pronouns
4.18.1 –
You
4.18.2 –
He / she / they
—
Him / her / them
4.18.3 –
It / they / them
—
This / that / these / those
4.18.4 – Gender neutrality
4.18.5 – Trade titles
4.19 – Articles (
a, the
)
4.19.1 – Articles in stems
4.19.2 – Articles in responses
4.19.2.1 – Exceptions — Prepositional phrases
4.19.2.2 – Exceptions — Disambiguation
4.20 – Acronyms
4.20.1 – Acronyms — Exceptions
4.20.2 – Indefinite article —
A
or
an
in front of an acronym
4.21 – Brand names
4.21.1 – Genericized brand names
4.21.2 – Generic terms
4.21.3 – Alternate spelling of a brand name
4.22 – Spelling
4.22.1 – Standardized spelling throughout an item bank and throughout trades
4.22.2 – Canadian spelling
4.22.3 – American spelling
4.22.3.1 –
Centre
,
centred
and
centering
4.22.3.2 –
Metre
vs
Meter
4.22.4 – Priority of references and sources
4.23 – Singular vs Plural
4.23.1 – Units of measurement
4.23.2 – Acronyms
4.24 – Punctuation
4.24.1 – Ratios
4.24.2 – Letters as symbols
4.24.3 – Hyphenated words
4.24.3.1 – Hyphenated number + noun used as an adjective
4.24.3.2 – Non‑break hyphens
4.24.4 – Minus and subtraction symbol (–) vs Range symbol (-)
4.24.5 – Possessive
’s / s’
4.25 – Time
4.25.1 – Hours and minutes
4.25.1.1 –
Clock
4.25.1.2 –
O’clock
4.26 – Numbers
4.26.1 – Fractions
4.26.2 – Separators — Thousands, millions, etc.
4.26.3 – Number + unit of measurement or descriptor
4.26.3.1 – Number + unit of measurement or descriptor — Always on same line
4.26.3.2 – Number + unit of measurement — In adjective position
4.26.3.3 – Number + unit of measurement — Non‑break space
4.26.4 – Decimal places
4.26.5 – Quantity
4.26.5.1 – Quantity — Exceptions (spelled out)
4.26.5.2 – Quantity — Exceptions (single‑phase, three‑phase, etc.)
4.27 – Measurements
4.27.1 – Imperial system measurements
4.27.2 – No conversions between metric and imperial
4.28 – Spacing
4.29 – Ranges — Measurements and symbols
4.30 –
Or
and
and/or
4.31 – First, second, third, etc. — Ordinal numbers
C. RULES GOVERNING RESPONSES ONLY
4.32 – Basic item response construction
4.33 –
None of the above
,
All of the above
4.34 – Punctuation
4.34.1 – Final period
4.34.2 – Final period — Words, acronyms, phrases and sentences
4.34.3 – Commas in lists
4.34.4 – Lists — Final
and
4.34.4.1 – Lists — Exception to Oxford comma before final
and
4.35 – Sequential and non‑sequential lists
4.35.1 – Sequential list — Items (nouns)
4.35.2 – Non‑sequential list — Items (nouns)
4.36 – Numbers
4.36.1 – Numbers — Alignment
4.36.2 – Decimal places
4.36.3 – Units of measurement
4.37 – Ranges
4.37.1 – Overlapping ranges
4.37.2 – Alignment — Second value
4.37.3 – Exceptions — Negative values
4.38 – Measurement systems in 2 columns
4.38.1 – Metric and imperial measurements
4.38.2 – Non‑metric and non‑imperial measurements
4.39 – Round brackets (parentheses)
4.40 – Negatives
4.41 – Null responses
4.41.1 – Null responses — Exceptions
4.42 – Order of responses
4.43 – Balanced responses
4.44 – Units of measurement only
‣ TAXONOMIES II and III
A. RULES GOVERNING STEMS ONLY
5.1 – Stems with bullet points
5.1.1 – Colon
5.2 – Multiple statements + question
5.3 – Diagrams
B. RULES GOVERNING BOTH STEMS AND RESPONSES
5.4 –
What is the procedure
vs
What is done
5.4.1 –
What is the procedure
5.4.2 –
What is done
5.4.2.1 –
What is done
— Avoid creating a Taxonomy I question
5.5 – Dimensions
5.6 – Diagrams
5.6.1 – Terminology and spelling
5.6.2 – Units of measurement and symbols
5.7 – Codebook measurements
C. RULES GOVERNING RESPONSES ONLY
5.8 – Responses with 2 or more actions
5.8.1 – Avoid combining 2 steps into 1 step
5.8.2 – Commas in procedures
5.8.3 – Sequential actions —
Then
5.8.4 – Non‑sequential actions —
And
5.8.4.1 – Oxford comma before final
and
— Exception
5.9 – Sequential lists — Numbers and letters
5.10 – Diagram designations
5.10.1 – Single characters
5.10.2 – Multiple characters
5.10.2.1 – Multiple letters
5.10.2.2 – Alphanumeric
‣ APPENDIX A
Units of measurement and symbols
‣ APPENDIX B
Special characters
Proposed new Special Character grid for ICEMS
‣ APPENDIX C
Standard spellings for terms with prefixes
‣ APPENDIX D
Style guide development history