Rates of computational errors for scoring the SIRS primary scales

We entered item scores for the Structured Interview of Reported Symptoms (SIRS; Rogers, Bagby, & Dickens, 1991) into a spreadsheet and compared computed scores with those hand-tallied by examiners. We found that about 35% of the tests had at least 1 scoring error. Of SIRS scale scores tallied by examiners, about 8% were incorrectly summed. When the errors were corrected, only 1 SIRS classification was reclassified in the fourfold scheme used by the SIRS. We note that mistallied scores on psychological tests are common, and we review some strategies for reducing scale score errors on the SIRS.