Recognizing that the emotional state of the student is integral to his ability to learn, educators now place emphasis on testing in the affective domain. With this increasing demand for test data, ethical considerations must be taken into account as measurement instruments are designed, administered, and interpreted. Difficulties in instrument design arise because of the complex and multidimensional nature of the affective domain. To date, the most useful method of categorizing the emotional state is through an assessment of student attitudes, interests, values, and appreciations. The most commonly used assessment technique is the self-report stimulus response selection approach which may involve a format that is forced choice or true-false. Scales include Guttman, Likert, Thurstone, and the semantic differential. Of the numerous types of item formats and scales, all have complex problems ranging from serious validity problems to high costs. Other methods for assessing the affective domain are the Q-Sort, interviews, and unobtrusive measures. (BJG)