As alternatives to the objectives-based approach to specifying content domains for test construction purposes, six strategies are proposed: (1) amplified objectives; (2) Instructional Objectives Exchange (IOX) test specifications; (3) item transformations; (4) item forms; (5) algorithms; and (6) mapping sentences. Their effectiveness is assessed in terms of the extent to which they provide an unambiguous domain definition and explicit rules for constructing items such that any two test-makers would produce identical items from the same specifications. A rating system was also devised to evaluate the strategies according to eight factors: clarity, simplicity, availability, development time, development cost, adaptability, domain appropriateness, and practicability. Item transformations, item forms, and algorithms are judged to offer the most rigorous and precise specifications, while amplified objectives, IOX test specifications, and mapping sentences tend to be the most practical. (Author/MH)