Testing shocks

I've read that one of the methods used to test the condition of a shock absorber is by bouncing a corner of the vehicle and observing if the vehicle bounces more than once if it is bad. If this is a valid test, I assume that you would have to bounce each corner of the vehicle to get the results of all four struts (assuming this vehicle has four coil over strut suspension)?

That test is usually pretty valid. You have to have a feel for the car. My big heavy station wagon has soft springs and soft valving in the shocks. Once you get that behemoth bouncing it wants to give another cycle before it stops even with brand new shocks. A light car with stiff springs will be harder to tell. That bouce however will only confirm one direction. There is different valving for jounce and rebound. If the jounce valves are shot, it will still dampen the bounce on the rebound and may not give you an accurate picture of what's going on inside the shock. It may appear to be working properly but only work in one direction.

All four corners have a shock of some sort; be it a strut or a standalone unit that can be tested with that bounce.

whoa, my suspension book didnt say anything about that regarding this test method. Thanks.