The major task of the methodology in evaluation is the development of new ways of helping the content specialist construct and evaluate educational products. Data collection and analysis--paying attention to both the unit of study and the distributions of scores in tests, as well as the mean--are important. Reexamining the nature of items used in evaluation studies and examining new indices are key features of evaluation. Item sampling and the questions of context effect and optimal use are also discussed. Related documents are EA 002 408 and EA 002 535. (MLF)