Psychometric Testing

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Online Psychometric Test Mini-Course: Lesson 5

Thursday, August 19th, 2010

In this session we will explore the following:

1. How to conduct a psychometric test administration session

Previously you were introduced to the importance of ensuring that every test administration session that you run remains the same in order to ensure consistency and hence reliability. By not adhering to this and by not being standardised in your test administration, you run the ultimate risk of invalidating the whole process because reliability is a precursor to validity. So this means that the company purchasing the tests has wasted money at the very least. Worse still however is the fact that many candidates may not see the process as fair (leading to problems in attracting applicants in the future) and likewise, the law in some countries may take issue with the way tests were administered leading perhaps to a bias in the process for one group compared to another. Given this, the following will discuss what is required to ensure you conduct a good, reliable psychometric test administration session.

Be prepared

Firstly, you need to be prepared!

Here is a list of things you need in order to be fully prepared:

1. Find and book an appropriate room. One that is large enough for the group of assessees and one which is in a quiet area. Ensure that on the day there will not be any nearby noise such as construction noise. Ensure that there are no fire drills planned. Consider the room temperature – make sure there is enough time for the room to cool down or heat up to a comfortable temperature before the assessment starts. Layout the room as per regular ‘exam conditions’ whereby desks are separated from each other.

2. Prepare a timetable for the day and send this out to candidates with their invitation letter (which we covered previously). Often, psychometric testing forms only part of a day-long series of assessments, that’s why a timetable is critical.

3. If you are using paper-based assessments, don’t forget to order the right quantity from the publisher or test distributor in good time before the session. We advise you do this at least 2 weeks before the day of assessment to allow for shipping.

4. Whether you are using paper-based or online tests, you must familiarise yourself with the tests and their instructions. Ensure that you fully understand the process of administering the tests. You don’t need to understand the questions in the test, but you do need to know each aspect of the process of administration with the specific test(s) you are using. You need to know when to pass each item (e.g., question booklet, answer sheet) to the candidate and when to collect it back in. You must also know how long each timed test lasts and have a stopwatch to assist with accurate timing. Also have some rough paper so that you can write down the time the test started. This helps if the stopwatch fails – you’ll know “roughly” when to stop the session. However we want 100% accuracy in the session, so let’s hope this backup is not required.

5. Ensure that you have the correct ratio of qualified test administrators to candidates. The best practice ration is 1:10. So for a room of 50 candidates you need 5 test qualified administrators. One administrator can just about keep their eye on 10 candidates, that’s why it would go against best practice to have only one or two administrators ensuring a room of 50 candidates do not cheat by looking at each other’s work or continuing with the test beyond the time limit.

6. Prepare a test log. This is sheet of paper upon which you will record events that happen during the session. The events range from the ordinary (i.e., 25 question booklets handed out and 25 returned or, test started at 3pm and finished at 3.25pm) to the less expected (i.e., candidate 34 reported that she has dyslexia).

Introducing the Psychometric Test Session to Candidates

Be friendly but professional. Introduce yourself and your role. Then go on to cover everything that you previously covered in your invitation letter to your candidates. This will include:

a) Why are we here today

b) Brief description of the assessments candidates are about to undertake

c) Reason why we are using psychometric tests (i.e., they are objective predictors of work performance)

d) How the tests fit into the overall process of selection or development (they should only be part of the process)

e) How long today’s session will last in total

f) What will happen after today’s session (e.g., you will hear from us within 7 days)

g) When feedback on test results will be given

h) A commitment that the results will remain confidential and be used only for this current purpose

i) Then ask candidates if they have any questions so far and thank them for agreeing to take the tests

j) Continuing with the introduction, convey any special emergency/fire instructions to candidates – this is a legal requirement for public gatherings in many countries.

k) Tell candidates where the washrooms are and that if they need to use them, a good time would be right now as they shouldn’t leave the room once the assessment commences and if they do, they certainly won’t get additional time! Also remind them that they may need their reading glasses to complete the assessments and if they left them outside, now is also a good time to go and get them!

At this point, people may have left the room for a couple of minutes following your advice. Once everybody has reassembled, continue with the more formal part of the test administration session. At this point you will refer to the publisher’s official instruction card. The publisher expects you to read the instructions and hand out/collect materials in exactly the same way and order presented here for consistency (and therefore reliability).

l) Tell candidates that you will now read from the test instructions and that this may make you sound a little more robotic for the next few minutes and that the reason you are doing this is to ensure that everybody gets the same instructions every time this test is administered. Ask them to listen very carefully to the instructions.

m) Read the instructions word for word. Ensure that you pause in the right places. Ensure that you hand out materials when told to do so. There are usually example questions which you will need to ask the candidates to complete. Do so and allow them a few minutes to complete. During this time you can walk around ensuring that they are completing the correct section of the answer sheet and are looking at the correct section of the question booklet. Correct anybody who is not but do not correct their answers until the example question time is up for all. Then you’ll need to go through the example question answers with candidates. At this stage you’ll be reading from the instructions. Do not go into lengthy explanations with candidates about why they may have got the answer wrong. Simply tell them not to worry, to do their best and remind them that the test in only part of the process.

o) If you are administering a personality questionnaire, remember to tell the candidates that there are no right or wrong answers – you are who you are! Tell them that personality assessments are used to assess candidate fit with the organisation and are more scientific and objective than interviews. Ask them to be honest and open and tell them that it is usually the first answer them comes to their mind which is most accurate; so do not spend too long deliberating over each question. Some candidates may say that they think their personality is different at work compared with home. Simply ask them to answer from a work perspective. Tell candidates that the test is untimed but that most people take around X minutes to complete.

p) Now it’s time for final questions. Ask candidates if they have any and answer them as best you can. It’s a good idea to consider possible questions before starting the sessions. We’ve put a few together here with answers:

http://www.psyasia.com/supportsuite/index.php?_m=knowledgebase&_a=view&parentcategoryid=33&pcid=0&nav=0

p) That’s it, now it’s time to test. So, as per your instructions, ask candidates to turn over the page and begin. If you’re administering an aptitude/ability test, remember to start your stopwatch at that point and then write down the time the test started as an independent time check. Now you need to walk around the room adjudicating. Don’t answer any more questions – candidates need to concentrate now. If they need replacement pencils/rough paper, fine, but no talking of any kind! Check candidates are on the right page and responding to questions in the correct section of the answer sheet. If not, correct them quietly.

q) As soon as time is up, call “STOP” or whatever is mentioned in your instructions. For personality assessments, wait until everybody has finished. For aptitude tests, ensure that all pencils are placed on desks as soon as you call time. A candidate who continues beyond time can increase their score unfairly and invalidate the process!

r) Collect all materials in the order instructed by the publisher and remember to note down in your test log everything that comes back. You must also collect all rough paper from candidates. This is because they may have written questions down on the paper and now those questions may get leaked out of the testing room – this would obviously invalidate the test.

s) Once you have ensured that all materials were returned, you may close the session as follows:

Thank candidates for attending
For aptitude tests, reassure them that they are supposed to be difficult and designed so that not everybody completes all questions
Remind candidates that everything will remain confidential
Remind candidates about the feedback session
Remind candidates about the next part of the selection or development process
Ask them if they have any final questions
Thank them all again and then dismiss them

Sticking to these guidelines and the publisher’s test administration instructions will help to ensure consistency in your administration sessions. As you know, this means higher reliability and hence you uphold the validity of the test.

Interested in learning more about psychometric testing for HRM? Keep reading – your next free session is not far away! To ensure you don’t miss a single instalment, we suggest you follow-us on twitter as each new post will be announced there. You may also like to join our face-to-face psychometric training courses in Singapore or Hong Kong – these range from simple introductory courses through to Certification Courses such as the BPS Level A and BPS Level B Certificates of Competence in Occupational Testing. Not in Singapore or Hong Kong? No problem – we also offer both recorded and live online training in psychometrics! For full details please see here or email us.

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Tags: aptitude tests, online psychometric course, online psychometric test training, online psychometric testing, Personality Test, Psychometric Test Administration Training, psychometric test training
Posted in British Psychological Society Certificates of Competence in Occupational Testing, Free Online Psychometric Training Courses, Free Psychometric Testing Mini-Course, Free Webinars & Online Learning, HRM Training, Psychometric Testing | No Comments »

Psychometric Testing in Singapore, Hong Kong and across Asia

Tuesday, August 10th, 2010

Introduction

Psychologist Vincent Wong carried out a review of psychometric tests being used in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and throughout Asia. In this analysis, more than 40 tests were reviewed which involved no less than 20 test developers. There were several focuses in the analysis which included practical information of the tests (information such as price and practical design issues), construct of the test, report design, technical details and training requirements.

Practical Information

Pricing

There exists a wide pricing range among tests developed by different test developers. In the lower end of the continuum one test provider provides tests for free in their entire product range and a section of the chargeable report will be produced. Obviously for user to obtain useful information they have to pay for the full report and this is certainly a marketing strategy. However in the perspective of psychometric this practice serious harm the integrity of the test as anybody can get access to the tests for unlimited number of times. Therefore it can only been seen as tests for people who are interested in trying out tests, rather than being usable in organizational settings. For more protected tests, prices range from USD$10 to more than USD$120 with some of the providers charge per usage while the others charge for subscription fee as well (usually paid annually).

Design

In this analysis, several design dimensions of the test were considered and they were the split between ipsative and normative measures, the type of scales that were employed, and other practical issue like medium of test administration.

The majority of the personality assessment tools (over 80%) employ normative measures (the type of psychometric tools that compare the respondent with a group of similar others, or the norm group) while the remaining ones employ an ipsative style (the type of psychometric tools that determine the preference among different personality traits within the respondent). Two exceptional case was identified which employs a mixed style, i.e. normative plus ipsative. The reason behind the popularity of normative style might down to the fact that for tests that were designed for selection purpose normative style was the better style to go with as it actually compare the respondents with the others. On the other hand ipsative measures can provide us with better knowledge about the preference or strength within the respondents. In line with this we found that most of the ipsative tests were preference or value tests which were designed for coaching or counselling purposes, although some ipsative measures that were designed for selection purposes were also identified. For the only tests that incorporated both normative and ipsative styles, the underlying connotation of the difference between normative and ipsative scales were utilized and it represented the discrepancy between the real and ideal self of the respondents.

The type of scale used by the tests is actually a function of whether they are ipsative or normative tests. For normative test the most popular scale type used was 5-point Likert Scale (Likert Scale is the type of scale that respondents choose among several options for the one that represent their thought most). 7-point scale was also quite common and there were a few occurrences of 3-point and 9-point scales. Other than using Likert scales, a few normative tests employed true or false scale. For ipsative tests force-choice scale was employed. One of the more popular version of ipsative scales asked the respondents to pick the option that describes them the best (usually termed as ‘most like me’) as well as option that describes them the worst (usually termed as ‘least like me’). Another appearing version of ipsative scale asked the respondents to put the available options into order, although this version was very uncommon.

Most of the surveyed tests, if not all, were designed for completing on computerized environment. While some of the tests can be administered online in an unsupervised manner, there were quite a few that required supervised administration. Whereas there were few test that provided different versions for supervised and unsupervised administration. Having more than one version allowed the result to be checked in a supervised manner after the candidates had passed the unsupervised session. Paper and pencil version of the tests were usually available with similar price of the computerized version although there were a few tests that did not provide paper and pencil version.

Although all the surveyed tests were not designed to be completed in a designated time, timer was identified in one test and it served the function of checking against random or thoughtful responses.

Measured Attributes

Personality

Among the different attributes, personality was the most popular one being measured. The majority of the personality measurements were built on the Big Five model of personality identified by Costa and McCrae (1985). While some of them retained the original five factors within the tests, about half of the surveyed tests restructured the factor compositions based on the result of the factor analysis or other theoretical support, for example one test split the factor of conscientiousness into ‘Industriousness’ and ‘Methodicalness’ while another developer incorporate the five factor model with behavioural tendencies and came up with a seven factor model. Another common phenomenon observed was that under each of the five factors the primary factors (ranges from 3-5 facets, also known as facets) were also measured, and they were actually more commonly used by test developers in report generation and interpretation. This was probably because the primary factors offer more detailed information thus higher flexibility in using them. Besides the Big Five model, another very popular personality model employed by test developers was Jung’s (1920) typology of personality. For instance two of the tests were developed from this theory as their entire theoretical foundation but one employed the original categorical model while the other one developed a continuum model. Besides building upon one theory, many tests extract personality factors from multiple personality theories and some of them measured as many as 34 personality dimensions. Example of the measured personality dimension includes ambition, initiative, concern for others, flexibility, and energy. Nearly most of the surveyed personality tests served multiple functions which included selection, training/development need analysis, counselling and other related applications such as personal development, conflict management and team building. Test developers further added the applicability of personality tests in different situations by providing multiple versions of reports alongside with a general personality profile.

Value, Motive and Preference

Another popular attributes being measured were value, motive and preference. Although these are three distinct attributes, we found it was common that test publisher combine either two or all three attributes into one test. These tests were less commonly employed in the situation of selection but more widely used in counselling and developmental scenarios, although some of them were also designed to be used in selection as well. For tests that measures value and motive, normative measures were found to be more common and ipsative measures were more common among preference tests. Another related attribute being measured was interest and they were mainly designed to be a career development tool.

Others

Other measured attributes included measure of leadership styles, team role, behavioural tendency, Emotional Intelligence, self-efficacy, work ethic, interpersonal communication, sales orientation, customer service orientation, learning style and even work effectiveness tendency.

Report Style

Nearly all of the surveyed tests have multiple reports and they are all in narrative form alongside with a graphic representation (usually bar charts) of the measured characteristic. However there was one test that did not employ narrative style in their report at all. Graphical representations with a sentence long description for each factor were employed instead of the narrative format. 2 dimensional typology graphs and score matrix were also employed for some type of reports. Some reports made use of different colours in representing different dimensions being measured yet some others used colour to indicate extreme scores (for example green representing high scores while red representing low scores). Colour was also frequently employed for matching test scores with a standard or an established profile, with green meaning a good match and red representing a poor match.

Report Content

Generic Personality Profile

For all the surveyed tests, there was at least some form of generic personality profile provided in the report, whether in the form of narrative writing, matrix of scores, 2 dimensional typology graphs, bar charts or broken line graphs. Most commonly the personality profile was consisted of a graphical representation of the test scores on different dimensions with a brief descriptive narrative alongside it. In this generic personality profile the test scores, usually in form of sten scores or percentile were presented. Raw scores were also found in some reports. About half of the survey tests also presented the variation of the test score in the report and a few had an explanation on the meaning behind that. In all cases primary dimensions measured by the tests were reported in this section. Secondary or higher-level composite dimensions were also frequently reported in this section.

Strengths and Limitations

Strengths and limitations were another very popular qualities being reported, although we identified a few tests that do not report them. In reporting strengths and limitations some tests referred them to very specific behavioural terms while there existed some tests simply referred high or low scores in particular dimensions as strengths or limitations. Few tests incorporated contextual factors into the reporting of strengths and limitations were identified and they were more common in purpose-specific reports (for example reports designed for leadership development or team building). Overall tests tended to present information about strengths and limitations of the candidates.

Competencies

Leadership, team work, interpersonal skills or orientation and problem solving orientation were found to be the most popular competencies being tapped. Other competencies being tackled by the surveyed tests included achievement orientation, customer service orientation, management style, decision making, planning and organization, influence and negotiation, delivery, creativity, analytic orientation, coping style and thinking style. Rather than being measured directly in the tests, these competencies were often generated from several primary dimensions of personality. They were found to be written in context of work and behavioural terms were employed heavily in order to aid comprehensibility of the report. Furthermore competency based reports were identified and leadership related reports were the one which appeared most. Competency based reports for sales and managerial positions were also popular.

Interview prompts

Interview prompts were found in some reports. These included general instruction of how to use the report correctly to enhance the effectiveness of a follow-up interview as well as specific suggested interview questions to be asked for a particular candidate. The number of interview prompts varies from three to ten plus suggested questions and some reports even included the expected answer from the candidate. These interview prompts also served as a check or back up of the validity of the tests.

Training (Development) Needs

Several tests with a separated training need or developmental report were identified. For tests that did not have a designated report for training needs, it was surprising to found that the section outlining training was absent for majority of the surveyed tests, given most of them were designed to be used in training need analysis. When present, the training needs outlined (or some tests referred it to be ‘action plans’) were usually generated from the unfit aspects identified or areas that were not up to the normative standard. Simple description about the needs per se was common and a few reports were found to be providing concrete training suggestions.

Cultural Fit

Cultural fit information was identified in a few test reports. This information could include the fit of the candidate with the organizational culture, task nature as well as co-workers and it existed in several forms. The more popular way to compute it was comparing between the candidate’s score with the norm or an ideal profile. One test generated this information by comparing the candidate with the best performers. Yet another test presented the information in light of the candidate himself by stating what culture or environment will be the best fit for the candidate.

Technical Information

Technical information of the test included normative data, reliability and validity data as well as development procedure of the test. They are the most important information to be readily accessible to the public but unfortunately some of them were virtually absent for some of the surveyed tests. Normative data were found to be the most reported information and reliability data followed. However evidence for validity as well as development procedure of the test were absent for some of the tests despite the claim of ‘scientifically validated’ in their marketing materials. For tests that did not provide any of the above mentioned information the integrity of them were seriously in doubt.

Training Requirement

Training requirement of the tests varied from no need training for an extreme case (which was the free online test) to BPS Level B plus additional training (approximately 7 days of training in total). For most of the tests 2-3 days of training for the specific test was common but this type of training would not be recognized by a different test provider. The BPS (British Psychological Society) Competence in Occupational Testing was found to be the most widely accepted qualification by the test providers. Most of the tests could be administered by a BPS Level B qualified user but there existed some tests which required a conversion training (1-2 days long) in order to be a qualified user of them.

Tags: aptitude test, online psychometric test training, online psychometric testing, Personality Assessment, Personality Test, personality test hong kong, personality test singapore, psychometric test, psychometric tests in asia, Psychometrics
Posted in Ability, Aptitude & Intelligence, British Psychological Society Certificates of Competence in Occupational Testing, Chinese Personality Testing, Personality Tests, Psychometric Testing, Recruitment & Selection | No Comments »

Chinese Personality Testing – Can Indigenous Tests Predict Work Performance?

Friday, July 30th, 2010

It’s perhaps quite natural to believe that the Chinese personality is so different to others that it requires a special psychometric test to assess it. What better way to sell your new Chinese personality test than to state that it is “high time a test for the Chinese” were developed. However, this throws doubt upon the utility of rigorously developed international psychometric tests of personality.

Given the above, we embarked on a research program to assess whether Chinese people differ significantly comparied to others in terms of personality structure and whether personality tests that purport to assess Chinese Personality are able to predict any more work performance than internationally developed tests have already been proven to do!

You can read our research findings it: personality.cn, our Chinese Personality at Work Research Site.

No time to read the whole site? Here’s a quick summary:

Locally developed psychometric tests which purport to assess “indigenous” aspects of Chinese Personality were found to be less reliable than reputable internationally developed tests of personality. Furthermore, there is a big question as to whether so-called “indigenous” traits are Chinese-specific. Issues such as traditionalism or face also exist in other cultures! Moreover, the research has demonstrated that whatever we choose to believe about Chinese Personality, locally developed (Hong Kong) tests of “indigenous” personality add nothing to the prediction of performance at work that is not already accounted for by reputable internationally developed personality tests.

We present this research in a free HRM webinar which you can watch here. We held a vote at the beginning and end of our webinar whereby we asked attendees if they believed that Chinese Personality is so different that Chinese people need their own personality test. At the beginning of the webinar, the majority of the attendees said yes! By the end of the webinar only one attendee still believed this to be the case! We recommend choosing well designed psychometric tests with high reliability and validity. Personality is a universal construct, thus locally developed tests may have little benefit to the hiring manager!

Tags: chinese personality test, HRM, hrm webinars, human resource management, human resources, online psychometric testing, Performance at Work, Performance Management, Personality Assessment, Personality Test, personality test hong kong, personality test singapore, Personality Tests, Recruitment, reliability of psychometrics, validity of psychometrics
Posted in Chinese Personality Testing, Free Webinars & Online Learning, HRM, HRM Training, Human Resources Articles (General), Performance at Work, Personality Tests, Psychometric Testing, Recruitment & Selection | No Comments »

Online Psychometric Test Mini-Course: Lesson 4

Wednesday, July 28th, 2010

In this session we will explore the following:

1. The relationship between reliability and validity in psychometric assessment
2. How psychometric test administrators can impact the reliability of tests

Psychometric Test Reliability

When choosing a reputable test, whether it be aptitude or personality, one of the properties of the test you will need to look for is reliability. We’ll consider reliability in appropriate detail in a later section of the course. For now, think of reliability as consistency. In order to have absolute confidence in our test scores we need them to be consistent. However, we can’t test and retest our candidates in the real world. Despite this, reputable test publishers would already have done this for you. This would have been carried out under optimal conditions. So, now you know that you are using a reliable test (one that produces consistent scores), it’s your task as the test administrator to ensure that the test remains a reliable test.

Why is reliability so important?

Whenever you assess something, you expect the score you get to be reliable. For example, if you assess your weight using bathroom scales, you expect the reading you get to be consistent across at least the short term. If you weigh yourself over 2 consecutive days and get significantly different readings you know something is wrong with the scales! The same is true of psychometric tests. The publisher first ensures that the test scores will be consistent over time and then you, as the administrator, need to ensure that your actions do not make the test less reliable.

Not only do we want and expect test results to remain reliable over time, but we also know that reliability is a precursor to validity. It sets an upper limit on the test’s validity. In other words, if your test is not reliable then it is not valid. Confusing? Let’s use the weighing scales example again…

Let’s suppose a medical doctor does some research which shows that those who weight more than 120kg are significantly more likely to suffer a heart attack. His research shows that weight is a valid indicator for predicting the heart attack. The scales are fit for the purpose of predicting a heart attack. Validity is all about being fit for purpose. Now if those scales are not reliable, they will provide inconsistent data over the time of the research program. In this case would you have confidence in the doctor’s findings? Of course not!

So, to apply this to psychometric tests let’s take an aptitude test. We’ve carried out research which confirms that a new numerical reasoning test can predict the performance of accountants. Those who score better on the test are rated as better accountants. This is validity. The test is fit for the purpose of predicting accountant performance. You will hopefully have full confidence in this finding if you know the test is reliable. If however you expect the test is coming up with inconsistent scores for your candidates, it is unreliable, and, as in the scales example above, you will not have confidence in the test’s prediction of accountant performance. This is why reliability is a precursor to validity.

And why is all of this so important for this course? It’s because you as the test administrator can enhance or reduce the reliability of the test by how you administer it in the first place. Let’s now take a look at what factors you can and can’t influence in terms of reliability.

How psychometric test administrators can impact the reliability of tests

factors affecting psychometric test reliability

Take a look at the graphic on the left. It shows different factors which can impact the reliability of psychometric tests. This applies to both aptitude tests and personality assessments.

Factors within the test

Generally, a test administrator is not responsible for this. The test publisher must design tests that will be highly reliable. Factors within the test means that the questions chosen must be accessible to all groups for whom the test is intended. If a subsection finds some questions difficult based on their group membership (i.e. non-native-English speaking groups may not understand a colloquialism used in a test question), then the test will be less reliable for that group. Although the publisher needs to ensure a reliable test, not all test publishers are reputable or know what they are doing! This is why the person who purchases the test needs to know how to evaluate it. We’ll show you later how to evaluate the test in greater detail. Know for now that you do not evaluate a test or validate it by trialling it on yourself or your colleague as many untrained users think!

Factors within the respondent

Whilst the test administrator cannot control all the possible factors within a respondent, you can do your best to ensure you control for a much as possible. It’s a good idea to think here about how you would like to be treated if you were undergoing a psychometric assessment for the first time. You’d probably like a friendly invitation letter explaining what is going to happen and why. You’d like to know that your data and results will remain confidential and only shared with decision-makers and only for the purpose that you’re undertaking the test. You’d also like to know what you need to bring with you and if possible, a few example questions as approved by the test publisher might help to set your mind at rest. Finally it would be good to have a number to call should you have any special needs that you wish to convey to the administrators before the day. So, when you arrive at the test centre you already know what is going to happen and why, you won’t be overly concerned, you’ll have all the right things with you (e.g., reading glasses) and you’ll know how long the session is going to last. If it’s a personality test you’ll be more likely to be open and honest because you know your results won’t go further than the selection or development committee and won’t be used for reasons beyond the reason you’ve already been given.

Ultimately here you are attempting to control for mood and expectations. Ideally you don’t want these to vary between candidates in order to give everybody the same start line. On the actual day of the test you will go over all of these things again with the candidates in the room to ensure that they are all clear on what will happen and why. Again, this sets the scene and mood, demonstrates your organisation’s “humanness” in the assessment process and provides candidates with an opportunity to ask questions. Furthermore, on the day you will need to ensure that you administer the test instructions word for word and then administer the test exactly as intended by the test publisher. Doing all of this enhances consistency and thus increases reliability. This is essential as we saw before because reliability is the precursor to validity.

Factors within the environment

How well would you be able to complete an aptitude test in a noisy room? Or how about room that’s freezing from too much air conditioning or too hot due to broken air conditioning? Likewise, you need to ensure that the test environment is conducive to candidate performance each and every time. This applies to personality assessment too. Although there is no right or wrong, your candidate will certainly feel more able to make an effort and respond accurately if you provide them with the right environment! So, some time before the session you’ll need to check the room, make sure temperature controls work. On the day, switch them on in good time before the test so that by the time candidates arrive the room is just right. Place a sign on the door to ensure you are not disturbed during the testing session and be sure to silence all phones in the room. Candidates should of course have phones switched off too. Ensure that once the session is over, all candidates leave at the same time so that they do not disturb others. If a candidate really must make a restroom visit, they should be accompanied by an administrator and only one candidate at a time should go. Ensure that upon leaving and rejoining the room the candidate does not disturb others.
(Note: also a good idea to check there is no planned construction nearby and there are no fire drills scheduled on the day of testing. Do this before sending out your invitation to the candidate!)

Summary

By referring to these guidelines you’ll help to ensure that psychometric tests used by your organisation remain as reliable as the publisher intends them to be. By using short-cuts and not following the guidelines you’ll threaten the reliability and therefore the validity of the tests. If you threaten a test’s validity it becomes unfit for purpose which means your company is wasting its money buying psychometric tools!

Tags: online psychometric course, online psychometric test training, psychometric test, Psychometric Test Administration Training, psychometric test training, psychometric training hong kong, psychometric training malaysia, psychometric training singapore, reliability of psychometrics
Posted in British Psychological Society Certificates of Competence in Occupational Testing, Free Online Psychometric Training Courses, Free Psychometric Testing Mini-Course, Free Webinars & Online Learning, Psychometric Test Training and Accreditation, Psychometric Testing | No Comments »

October Psychometric Training Courses in Singapore & Online: Discounts expire in 7 Days!

Friday, July 23rd, 2010

PsyAsia’s range of early-bird and group booking discounts for our October Psychometric Training Courses in Singapore will expire in just 7 days! If you intend coming on our October training for BPS Level A, BPS Level B (including Identity and Apollo Personality Questionnaire accreditation), Saville Consulting Wave or BPS Test Administration, please do ensure that you register by 30 July. All discounts will expire in our systems and cannot be reinstated! Please view all course dates at http://dates.psyasia.com.

Remember, PsyAsia International is Asia’s Independent Leader in Psychometric Tests and Training. We only sell the world’s best psychometric tests, our courses are run by resident fully registered psychologists and we offer blended e-learning with our face-to-face training for all BPS certification courses.

If you have any queries about our psychometric courses, do please get in touch – an easy way to get an instant response is to use the LIVE CHAT facility on our website. Alternatively, please email us.

Finally, don’t forget that we’ve arranged a session for anyone interested in Singapore Level A and B training to meet with the facilitator online. He will show you course slides and workbooks and answer any questions you may have. This session runs on Tuesday 27th July at 5pm Singapore/Hong Kong time. Click here to register.

Tags: Personality Assessment, psychometric training, psychometric training hong kong, psychometric training malaysia, psychometric training singapore, Saville Consulting Wave, saville consulting wave singapore, saville wave training hong kong, saville wave training singapore
Posted in Apollo Profile, British Psychological Society Certificates of Competence in Occupational Testing, Personality Tests, Psychometric Test Training and Accreditation, Psychometric Testing, Saville Consulting Wave, Saville Wave Training | No Comments »

Online Psychometric Test Mini-Course: Lesson 3

Wednesday, July 14th, 2010

In this session we will explore the following:

1. Why psychometric tests are used and how they are useful. We will do this by referring mainly to alternative methods of assessment.

The short answer to the first part of the above question is that psychometric tests are used because (assuming they are well designed tests) they are a reliable and valid means of assessing people. We will discuss in a future session exactly what is mean by reliability and validity when applied to psychometrics.

Let’s consider a few alternatives to psychometric tests and highlight this issue further.

Unstructured Interviews

Most candidates who apply for a job will expect to have an interview at some stage of the process and indeed, most organisations will work an interview into the process. However, how useful is this interview for predicting performance on the job? This depends a lot on the training of those who will be interviewing. Many people who conduct interviews have never been trained. Perhaps one day a boss asked them to go and interview a candidate for a job and it continued from there. They may have years of experience but experience and competence are not the same. Most people who interview use what is known as the traditional interview. It is also sometimes called an unstructured interview. The idea is that this is a time to meet with and get to know the job applicant. Often the interviewer is thinking things such as:

“Let’s see if he has a firm handshake.”

“Let’s see if he looks me in the eye.”

“I’ll ask him what he does in his spare time.”

The problem is that none of the answers to these questions will predict performance at work. So what if I have a limp handshake? Donald Trump (very successful property tycoon) does not even like to shake hands – he’s worried about germs! Imagine him at a job interview. The shake would be very limp if at all. In some cultures it’s rude to look people in the eye – so we cannot go assuming that those who avoid eye contact will not be good performers or that they are dishonest or hiding something. As for spare time, what about somebody who puts together model cars or aeroplanes on the weekend, does it mean that will be a good designer or engineer. No, this may simply be a low level weekend interest and not something that would keep them entertained as a career. Not to mention the fact that in some parts of the world it’s actually illegal to ask about people’s hobbies in a job selection process!

The point to grasp then is that often the people conducting interviews have little or no training and are running unstructured interviews that have little relevance to job performance and therefore lack both reliability and validity. However, the suggestion is not that we remove interviews totally!

Structured Interviews

Research has shown that interviews have good reliability and validity when run in a particular way by those who have undergone thorough training. These are called structured interviews. The idea here is to align the interview questions to the competencies required of the candidate to be successful in the job. Then the interviewer asks the same or very similar questions to each candidate based on job requirements. Behavioural interviews are one type of structured interview. The questions are designed to elicit a high level of evidence that the candidate has displayed the behaviour associated with competent performance over repeated occasions in the past. Another type of structured interview is Situational interviewing – here the candidate is asked what they would do in certain situations. Situational interviews are generally less valid than Behavioural interviews. The biggest problem with getting HR and Consultants to run structured interviews is the need for training. PsyAsia used to run a 2-day course in behavioural interviewing, but our clients in Asia told us that would require too much time out of the workplace. We thus reduced this to a one-day course (see our behaviour-based interviewing course here if interested) but whilst this satisfies the big decision makers it really only serves as an introduction to interviewing. There needs to be more communication and understanding between HR and those who hold the purse-strings in Asia if we are to increase competence in this area!

Psychometric Tests and Structured Interviews

So thus far, we pointed out that interviews can be reliable and valid but that can only happen if the interviewers have been appropriately trained and where using structured interviews; preferably a behavioural interview. Those using psychometric tools also need to be appropriately trained in order to ensure they remain reliable and valid tools. Assuming training and competence requirements are met for both tests and interviews, why use tests?

Psychometric tests are able to cover a lot more ground in far less time. Aptitude tests give us an indication of numerical, verbal and spatial skills in 18 minutes if using modern tests like the Saville Consulting Aptitude range. There’s no way we could discover this information in even a one-hour interview! Personality assessments can sample and assess personality traits relevant to performance on the job. The average completion time for good personality assessments is 30-40 minutes. There also a few good faster tools available which take around 20 minutes. The amount of information gleaned in this short period of time is a credit to the developers of psychometric tests. However, with particular regard to personality testing, it is necessary to confirm the profile with behavioural evidence from the candidate. So, whilst the profile may suggest somebody who really enjoys multi-tasking, this becomes a basis for an interview question (assuming this is required by the job).

In essence then, psychometric tests are useful because they provide so much more information than an interview can provide in a much shorter period of time. They have been designed by experts using modern statistical techniques aligned with modern personality research and theory. However, psychometric tests are only part of the story and a well designed interview using competent interviewers will add incremental validity to the assessment process. The interview will serve to confirm (or refute) the psychometric profile and provide rich behavioural evidence (that cannot be recorded by psychometric tests) that the person can perform at the level required by the person specification.

Other Methods of Assessment

So far we’ve only looked at different types of interview as an alternative or as complimentary to the assessment process. How about other methods of assessment?

Application forms
We all need to complete one of these to show our intention to apply for a job. Realistically though they are there for this reason alone. They serve as a record of information which the organisation deems important to hold on the individual. Current application forms hold no value as selection tools with the exception perhaps of educational and experiential background. This can be changed by designing application forms that elicit only job relevant responses and preparing a scoring system for the from even before sending it out.

CV/Resume
Candidates like to send their CV/Resume because many people have these on file and it’s easy to quickly update it and print it off on a per-job basis. However, again these are not particularly useful in selection. Research shows that decision-makers are often seduced by smart graphics as well as vocab which sells the applicant by over-inflating their achievements. It’s also possible to lie in a CV, although research has shown that most people don’t lie about their educational qualifications or experience as they know the prospective employer can check up on this. What they do tend to lie about or at least mislead about is their level of competence. We suggest that CVs are not used at any stage of the selection process.

Assessment Centres (ACs)
This is where the candidate is invited to a physical location to partake in a number of exercises with other candidates. Most ACs last a day and during that time the candidates will undergo both group and individual exercises such as presentation exercises, negotiation exercises or in-tray exercises. Assessment Centres have been shown to be highly valid and reliable methods of selection when using well trained assessors.
PsyAsia runs training in Assessment Centres and we also offer consultancy in Assessment Centre Design

References
References lack validity in the assessment process and yet organisations continue to request them! Typically a candidate will not give a potential employer the name of somebody who will give them a poor or perhaps even an honest reference. The tendency is to only offer names of those who they trust will give a great reference. On the other hand, if the current employer really wants the candidate to move on they may fake the reference, making the candidate appear almost angelic! Does this mean we should not use references in the selection process? No. It is possible to improve upon the use of references by designing work-related reference forms that elicit behavioural evidence from the previous employer that is in line with the competency requirements of the new job. However, this may lower the response rate as the referee really needs to think about actual behaviours and write them down rather than sending the standard “he’s a great guy” reference.

Graphology
Most organisations aren’t into this, but an alarmingly high percentage of French organisations are! The idea here is that various personality traits can be seen via somebody’s handwriting. Those traits can then be linked to performance at work. So for somebody that writes with very bold strokes, the graphologist may say they are ambitious. This would be good for a salesperson. However, research has shown a lack of reliability in this method. Not only do people write differently depending on their mood, their culture, their upbringing and so on, but graphologists given the same handwriting to analyse often do not agree with each other about the personality traits of the writer! Graphology thus should not be used as a selection tool.

Phrenology
Phrenologists assume that different aspects of personality are stored in different parts of the brain and that where somebody has more of a particular characteristic, the corresponding part of the brain will be larger and hence cause protrusions on the head! The idea would be that you measure different bumps and indentations on your candidates and then project their personality from that. Of course, this method holds no validity and brain imaging tools such as fMRI and PET scans have refuted it.

Astrology
In Asia, people use astrology to help them decide auspicious dates for business openings, functions, weddings and so on. Does it work for job applicants? No! The idea that people born at the same time, in the same place, where the alignment of stars and planets are similar will work in the same way does not hold any weight. Don’t hire employees based on their star signs!

Psychometric Tests and other Selection Methods

As you can see, there are many ways we can assess people. However each method varies in terms of reliability and validity. Assessment Centres hold very high reliability and validity if done properly, but they are expensive, require lots of resources and skills to run and only assess 6-12 people at a time. We’ve already said that structured interviews are good but again, they take time and resources. Psychometric tools do cost money. However the cost is offset by the number of candidates that can be assessed and the information that can be gathered in the assessment compared to other selection methods. Don’t forget, an interviewer’s time is costly. A panel interview with 3 interviewers is likely to cost around 2-3 times the fee of a psychometric test and yet will not gather as much information. Not to mention the fact that if you are using the right psychometric tool, it’s reliability and validity will already have been assessed and will be good. Whereas we tend to assume that interviews will be reliable and valid if run by trained people – this is rarely tested!

Psychometric Tests for development, coaching, careers advice and team-building

This lesson has focussed on the use of psychometric tests in candidate selection. However, much of what has been raised applies to the use of tests in other scenarios. For example, in careers advice, psychometric tools allow the counsellor to offer advice which is based on a systematic assessment of the individual’s aptitude and personality alongside the information already on file such as achievements thus far, previous experience, educational qualifications and so forth. In coaching, development and team-building, psychometric tools often serve as a reliable and valid basis for the discussion. Not using these tools means the initiator starts off with far less information and is likely to be less systematic. Psychometrics enables the initiator to work from a validated model and a holistic assessment of the people being developed and not to base interventions and advice on subjective insights.

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Tags: bps level a & b training, online psychometric course, online psychometric test training, psychometric test singapore, psychometric testing hong kong, psychometric training
Posted in British Psychological Society Certificates of Competence in Occupational Testing, Free Online Psychometric Training Courses, Free Psychometric Testing Mini-Course, Free Webinars & Online Learning, Personality Tests, Psychometric Test Training and Accreditation, Psychometric Testing, Recruitment & Selection | No Comments »

Psychometrics Journal – Free Access for a month

Monday, June 28th, 2010

Psychometrika – Journal of Psychometrics Society
Free Trial Access until
July 31, 2010!

Psychometrika is devoted to the advancement of quantitative theory and methodology in psychology, and in the behavioral and social sciences generally. Articles appear in either the Theory and Methods (T&M) section of the journal, or the Application Reviews and Case Studies (ARCS) section. T&M articles present original material on quantitative models, statistical methods, or mathematical techniques for data within psychology or the behavioral and social sciences. Application Reviews are either integrative, comparative, or critical reviews of methodologies in specific applications. Case Studies are illustrative analyses that deepen our understanding of particular substantive phenomena.

Psychometrika is published in cooperation with The Psychometric Society.

From now until July 31, 2010, please enjoy free access to the journal. Click here to begin your reading.

Tags: Psychological Assessment, psychological testing, psychometric, psychometric journal, psychometric test, Psychometric Testing
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Online Psychometric Testing Mini-Course: Session 2

Thursday, June 24th, 2010

In this session we will explore the following:

1. The different categories of psychometric tests

Different categories of psychometric tests

There are two major categories of psychometric tests:

Tests of MAXIMUM PERFORMANCE

and

Tests of TYPICAL BEHAVIOUR

Maximum Performance Tests

Tests of Maximum performance include tests that have right and wrong answers. This means aptitude tests, ability tests and attainment tests. It’s possible to break down the category of maximum performance tests further by distinguishing between Speed Tests and Power Tests. A speed test is more common in occupational testing. It is a test that has a time limit. The idea is that most candidates will not complete all questions by the end of the allotted time. Candidates will trade off speed with accuracy. It is quite conceivable however that candidates would do somewhat better if they were allowed more time. On the contrary, power tests are not timed. The idea here is that you either know the subject matter or you don’t and that even if you were given more time your score would be unlikely to improve. As an example, I know nothing about quantum physics. If you sit me in a room and ask me to sit a test on this topic I won’t do well – I’ll do badly and I’ll do badly irrespective of how long you give me to complete the test!

So, what is the difference between the main types of maximum performance tests?

Aptitude Tests
These assessments are future looking. They ask if the candidate has the aptitude to do something in the future, perhaps after a period of education or experience. If I want to know if my graduate respondent will make a good leader I may ask him to sit a number of aptitude tests. I am quite certain that the recent graduate will not be able to be a leader right now. But that is not what I am asking. I need to know if after a few years of on-the-job experience and leadership development training this person has the aptitude to be a successful leader. An example of an aptitude test would be Saville Consulting’s Swift Analysis Aptitude Test or their Customer Aptitudes Test.

Ability Tests
In the aptitude example above I noted that I know my recent graduate will not make a good leader now. Ability tests are about the “here and now”. They tell us what the candidate is able to do now. Ability tests appear at the top of the hierarchy in maximum performance assessment. An example of an ability test would be the General Ability Test (GAT) or the Graduate and Managerial Assessment (GMAT).

Attainment Tests
These are the tests that you are probably more familiar with. The tests we sit during our schooling and university years are attainment tests. The question is: following this period of learning, how much does the person now know? So, GCSE tests, A’Levels, University Degrees, Pilot Licence Tests, Piano Tests and so on are all examples of attainment tests.

However, just as you are beginning to think this isn’t too difficult to understand, let me add a thought for you! It is possible for a single test to actually be any of the above 3 categories depending on how you intend to use it! For example, if you have just completed a training course for apprentice mechanics and then give them a mechanical aptitude test in order to assess their learning, you are actually using it in a similar way to an attainment test. If you didn’t train these apprentices and you wish to see if they have the aptitude to be good mechanics and you have them sit this test, you are using it as an aptitude test. If you are about to select a mechanic who needs to perform right now without further training you could use this same test as an ability test!

Typical Behaviour Tests

These are not really tests in the purest sense because with typical behaviour (also called typical performance) there is no right or wrong. In view of this we try to speak about questionnaires and assessments for this category instead of tests! This category includes personality assessments and interest questionnaires.

Personality Assessments
These obviously assess personality. Some personality assessments assess a few types of personality and these are called PERSONALITY TYPE assessments (for example, the Myers Briggs Type Indicator – MBTI or the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire – EPQ). Other personality assessments assess traits. A type is a collection of traits. A trait is a relatively enduring characteristic of the person (such as extraversion or resilience) which can be used to predict behaviours. Trait tools are able to assess at a finer level and this is one reason why type tools should not be used in assessment for selection decisions despite being useful guides in development and team-building. Trait tools can be further split into 2 more categories – NARROWBAND and BROADBAND. Broadband Personality Questionnaires assess traits broadly – this means there are overall fewer traits to assess – perhaps 5 or 6 in total. An example of a broadband personality tool is the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI). Narrowband tools assess more traits/contain more scales. They typically assess each scale with fewer questions than broadband instruments. Some narrowband assessments may have around 16 scales (e.g., the 16 Personality Factor Questionnaire – 16PF) whilst others may have around double that, for example the Identity Personality Questionnaire and the Apollo Profile assess 36 and 34 scales respectively. A benefit of narrowband tools is their ability to assess at a very specific level within the person. This enables a more valid prediction of workplace performance. However, broadband personality tools have their own advantage which is that because they contain more questions per scale/trait – reliability for each scale/trait is generally higher than with narrowband tools. We’ll discuss reliability and validity in detail later in the course.

Note: Some personality assessments were not developed specifically for workplace assessment but are nonetheless used in workplace selection and development (e.g., 16PF, MMPI) whilst other questionnaires were developed specifically to be used in workplace selection and development (e.g., Apollo, OPQ32, Hogan Personality Inventory)

Interest Questionnaires
As the name implies, these tools assess the respondent’s interest in various aspects of the working world in a structured and meaningful way and are therefore typically used in career counselling. They are also used in selection assessment to ascertain whether the candidate will comfortably fit the particular organisation they are applying to work in. For example, if I am interested in doing structured work in a well structured organisation I may not be very happy working for an organisation which values spontaneity and creativity. Some personality assessments also report on the respondent’s interest by way of “derived scales”. Derived scales come about by way of predicting statistically what the respondent would score in particular areas (such as interest) based on how they responded to the general personality assessment. An example of an Interest Questionnaire is the Strong Interest Inventory. An example of a personality questionnaire that uses derived interest scales is the Identity Self-perception Questionnaire.

Tags: online psychometric course, online psychometric test training, psychometric test singapore, psychometric testing hong kong, psychometric training
Posted in British Psychological Society Certificates of Competence in Occupational Testing, Free Online Psychometric Training Courses, Free Psychometric Testing Mini-Course, Free Webinars & Online Learning, Personality Tests, Psychometric Test Training and Accreditation, Psychometric Testing, Recruitment & Selection | No Comments »

Psychometric Testing Singapore: BPS Level A & B Certificates of Competence – October Course Dates

Friday, June 18th, 2010

20 October 2010 – 27 October 2010 (weekend excluded) (5-day option also available)

Conrad Centennial Hotel, Singapore

**Please register early – previous courses have been fully booked up to 8 weeks before the start date**

Introduction

Train for BPS Level A and B Certificates of Competence in Occupational Testing in Singapore with the company that won an international quality award in 2010; the company which brought regular BPS Certification training to Singapore; and the company which uses a British Psychological Society Award-Winning Dr. of Psychology to facilitate the course!

This intensive professional course provides training in psychometric assessment in the workplace, leading to the fulfilment of requirements for the British Psychological Society Certificates of Competence in Occupational Testing – BPS Levels A & B. After successful completion of the course, delegates are qualified to order, administer, score, interpret and feedback on a complete range of ability, aptitude and personality questionnaires. They will also be able to apply for the British Psychological Society’s Certificates which means the holder will be recognised internationally as having trained to the highest levels in the practical application of psychometric tests.

PsyAsia International is renowned by Human Resource professionals and organisational psychologists throughout Asia for being the leader in psychometric training in the region. Whilst many overuse the term “leader”, PsyAsia demonstrates their position with tangibles. Recent innovations include moving of training to online mediums, blended learning for the BPS Level A and B and an online learning centre where delegates get immediate access to forums, chat with other delegates, virtual receptions with the facilitator and other course members, downloads of recorded training and more.

Dates:

20-22 October 2010: Level A

25-27 October 2010: Level B

Delegates may also opt to attend online training over 3 evenings instead of attending on 20 October, reducing total time away from the office to 5 days. Furthermore, delegates may choose to undertake Level A in October and place Level B on hold until Q1 of 2011 for no additional fee.

Key Learning Objectives for Level A

Delegates will be able to:

• Register with all UK and many international test publishers to purchase tests and know what to look for and avoid in Singapore. With many poorly developed tests and non-psychologist distributors in Singapore this is crucial!
• Understand the range and types of psychometric tests available.
• Know when to use tests, and importantly – when not to.
• Decide which tests are appropriate for a particular situation, be it selection, development, coaching or team-building.
• Conduct a job analysis and identify the assessment requirements.
• Have an appreciation of other assessment methods such as assessment centres or behavioural interviews.
• Administer, score and interpret aptitude tests.
• Make informed decisions using psychometric test results.
• Provide quality feedback to clients and candidates.
• Integrate tests into a wider recruitment or assessment process.
• Have a sound grasp of statistical concepts used in testing.
• Appreciate the importance of test reliability and validity and be able to assess it.

Key Learning Objectives for Level B

Delegates will be able to:

• Increase their awareness and understanding of individual differences between people.
• Integrate the use of personality assessments into selection and development activities.
• Decide which questionnaires are appropriate for particular situations.
• Administer, score and interpret personality data.
• Provide professional selection feedback to both candidates and recruiting customers.
• Coach individuals to develop using personality information.
• Use personality questionnaire information to support structured interviewing.
• Critically assess the value of different tools for specific purposes.
• Identify and reject inflated claims of validity – so-called ‘Barnum’ or ‘horoscope’ effects.
• Relate personality factors to organisations’ core competencies.
• Design and write selection reports for recruiting clients / managers.
• Design and write development reports to aid self-awareness of clients / managers.
• Maintain appropriate records and data for audit, research and feedback purposes.
• Demonstrate professional Best Practice and compliance with employment legislation.

See the course webpage for a full day-by-day syllabus.

No Exams!

At the current time it is up to individual course providers to decide how to assess their delegates; some may use exams whilst others use workbooks and other assessments. At the current time, there is no exam requirement for our Level A and B training in Singapore; we find that our delegates prefer this. Instead we assess via a workbook and practical exercises.

Facilitator
This course is facilitated by PsyAsia International’s resident director, Dr. Graham Tyler. Dr. Tyler is well known in Asia for his expertise and work in psychometrics. His PhD was by way of a double-scholarship award from the Australian Government and focussed on psychometric assessment, personality and performance at work in Asia. Dr. Tyler is a fully Registered Organisational Psychologist, a Chartered Scientist, a consultant/trainer to numerous Singapore Government departments and Fortune 500 companies and a university lecturer. He is a published author in Singapore-based publications (Straits Times, Human Capital Plus, Human Resources) and peer-reviewed journals such as the International Journal of Selection and Assessment, the BPS Selection and Development Review and The Occupational Psychologist. He is a reviewer for scientific journals and conferences and a supervisor for Intern Psychologists on behalf of Australian and local Universities. Dr. Tyler was the first to bring regular training leading to the British Psychological Society’s Certificates of Competence in Occupational Testing to Singapore in 2002 having introduced them to Dubai prior to that. His work with Psychometric Tests has received recognition from the British Psychological Society with an award for Scientific Contribution to Psychology. Plentiful delegate reviews of Dr. Tyler’s training can be seen at the course webpage.

Additional Benefits

The course facilitator and our psychologist consultants are based locally, this means that we can blend the BPS syllabus with knowledge and experience of local laws, culture and practices and that even when the course ends expert psychologists will be nearby to offer ongoing support. Given that we are not a training reseller, we don’t need to ship in overseas facilitators. As a result, we can be flexible in terms of our course offerings. Delegates can choose which parts of the course to sit and when – no need to attend all 6 days at once! You may attend Level A in October and then Level B in 2011. You can even start out by attending our 2-day Identity Accreditation Course or study our Online Test Administration Course and have those count towards your Level A/B! Finally, because we are local there is no need to send your follow-up work overseas for marking. You can essentially finish Level B as soon as you are ready – and don’t hang around for your results – we guarantee to mark your work within 10 days, although most is marked within 2-3 days of receipt – you can check our online performance review for recent dates!

Furthermore, because we are not a test publisher, our training is unbiased and we introduce many tests (both good and bad) to delegates. In addition to this, for those delegates who wish to study and be accredited in numerous tests, we offer 50% discount off our Saville Consulting Wave® one-day training which follows Level B (60% if you book before 30 July). Of course, we include Identity Questionnaire and Apollo Profile accreditation in the A/B fee as standard for all delegates. That’s not all! In addition to the SG$1200+ of materials we give you on the course (which include an online test system with starter credits), all delegates will receive a 30% discount on any Identity Personality Assessment products purchased within 1 month of their qualification and a 10% discount on all other non-discounted products which we offer. There’s even more, but we’ll save some surprises for the course!

More details

The Psychometric Assessment at Work Course in Singapore
http://www.psyasia.com/psychometric_test_training_course.php

Other Psychometric Training Courses in Singapore from PsyAsia International
http://www.psyasia.com/psychometric_training.php

Please follow the links at the web pages to register online. For any queries not addressed at the website, kindly call us on 6329 9629 or email us via http://www.psyasia.com/email

Visit the website

Tags: bps level a certification singapore, bps level b certification singapore, british psychological society level a and b qualification, psychometric a and b singapore, psychometric test accreditation, psychometric test training, training for bps level a asia, training for bps level b asia
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Online Psychometric Test Mini-Course: Lesson 1

Monday, June 14th, 2010

Welcome to our first session in Psychometric Testing!

In this first session we will explore the following:

1. What is a psychometric test?
2. A brief background of psychometric testing.

What is a psychometric test? How are they developed?

Let’s start out by telling you what a psychometric test is not!

You may have come across various different online tests. Not all of them are psychometric. Whether they are or not will depend on how they were designed, for what purpose and what they intend to measure. For example, you may have come across the Thematic Apperception Test or the Rorshach Inkblot Test. These tests are used mainly in clinical settings. The client is asked to look at scenes or pictures and to articulate what they see. Such tests are supposed to be able to assess the unconscious mind. However, interpretation is not as objective as we would like to see in occupational testing and assessment. Furthermore, what the client “sees” may be based on external factors such as culture, upbringing or season of the year.

Psychometric Tests are different! They are defined as quantitative (numerical) assessments of one or more psychological (in the head) attributes. So, psychometric tests are used to assess in a quantitative way things like numerical reasoning skills, verbal aptitude, extroversion, conscientiousness and so on. That alone does not make a test psychometric of course. In order to be psychometric the test must have been designed to be:

1. Administered in a standardised manner
2. Scored in a standardised manner
3. Interpreted in a standardised manner
4. Constructed according to psychometric principles

You’ll see later how important standardisation is throughout the use of psychometric tools. In fact standardisation is a critical element of all scientific HR processes.

As for being constructed according the psychometric principles, what we mean here is that the test must have gone through each aspect of a very scientific development process. It is not good enough to simply write down a few questions, produce a flashy report and start selling a new test! This is the process it must go through:

a. Development of a rationale behind the test that is supported by research. For example – if I decide to develop a new test of extroversion, the scientific research literature and models must inform the design of my questions and the aspects of extroversion that I attempt to assess.

b. Next I need to write some experimental questions. At this stage I’ll write more questions than I intend to have in the final version of my test because I am prepared to throw some out based on feedback.

c. Now I’ll find a sample of people (who represent the group I am designing the test for) and I’ll ask this sample to complete my experimental test. In other words, I pilot my test.

d. Next I head back to my office and assess the responses and how they relate to each other statistically. At this stage I am running item analysis to test that similar questions (items) are indeed related to each other in the way I would expect. More on this later. The point to grasp now is that this is an iterative process. Things won’t be perfect the first time around. Based on the statistics I’ll need to remove some questions, refine others and then go back to point C. I’ll do this again and again until I am happy with the statistics I get at point D!

e. Now that my test questions are performing well I need to enter a standardisation phase. Here, a larger group of people will complete my test and that will show me where people tend to score on the test. This group will become my benchmark or norm group later and add meaning to the scores of future test-takers.

f. The next question is “Does my new test actually assess what it is supposed to assess and/or does it predict something meaningful?”. As an example, you would expect my numerical reasoning test to predict success of accountant trainees. This stage is called Validation, we are assessing the validity of the test or whether it is fit for purpose.

g. Now, we all know from science classes at school that all good experiments end with a write-up! That’s exactly what we do at the final stage of psychometric test development. We need to write up all of the above stages in a long document which is called the test’s technical manual. It is this manual that prospective clients with reputable training in psychometrics will consult before purchasing a psychometric test. So, if your test publisher tells you they don’t have such a document, it might be wise to stay away from them. On the other hand – do expect to pay for the manual. Some publishers will offer them free of charge but others will require a fee.

Based on the above, hopefully you can see that developing tests well takes time and effort. It is for this reason that good tests are usually not cheap! Not only that. The test is not static. People change, norms change and so validities may even change. The publisher cannot put the test on the shelf and forget as if it were a book they wrote years ago. This is why usually clients will pay a fee per test report or per candidate whenever they use the test. If you are attracted by free or very cheap internet-based tests you could be making a costly mistake. Particularly if you plan using the test in candidate selection for your business.

What is the history of psychometric testing?

Let’s give you a very brief background at this stage. Something that I find interesting being based in Asia and often working with Western-developed tests is the role Asia has in the development of psychometric tests for assessment at work! If it had not been for the Chinese Cultural Revolution, China may actually be far more advanced in this field than the West because China certainly was testing for individual differences before such testing was recorded in Europe or the USA. The Chinese government believed it important to test for entrants to the Civil Service more than 4000 years ago! However, at the time of the Cultural Revolution, this sort of assessment was outlawed as being too bourgeoisie.

This paved the way for the West to develop individual difference assessment and one of the first names to crop up in textbooks is French Psychologist Binet who around 1905 coined the term IQ. His application of testing was of course more related to education. The World Wars saw an increase in and marked use of psychological assessment for selection decisions. Here people were forcibly recruited into the army through conscription. The arduous task for decision-makers was where best to place these newcomers. The Army Alpha and Army Beta tests assisted in answering this question. Although successful for war-time placements, the same tests used in peacetime by commercial organisations gained a poor reputation as they worked less well (they were not designed for this application).

Nowadays tests are used extensively in organisations to assist in selection and development decisions as well as team-building, career guidance and performance appraisal. Reputable test publishers go out of their way to assess their tests and ensure they are free from bias and that they work to do the job they were designed to do. Tests are useful decision-making tools although they should never be used on their own. You’ll find out why later. One of the biggest problems we face in Asia is an influx of poorly designed tests along with non-psychologist distributors who know little about psychology and psychometrics. In this course you’ll learn more about this, how to spot good from bad and above all you’ll gain the confidence to make competent decisions about using the best psychometric test for your purpose.

Archive for the ‘ Psychometric Testing ’ Category

Online Psychometric Test Mini-Course: Lesson 5

In this session we will explore the following:

Psychometric Testing in Singapore, Hong Kong and across Asia

Chinese Personality Testing – Can Indigenous Tests Predict Work Performance?

Online Psychometric Test Mini-Course: Lesson 4

In this session we will explore the following:

Psychometric Test Reliability

Why is reliability so important?

How psychometric test administrators can impact the reliability of tests

Summary

October Psychometric Training Courses in Singapore & Online: Discounts expire in 7 Days!

Online Psychometric Test Mini-Course: Lesson 3

Online Psychometric Testing Mini-Course: Session 3

In this session we will explore the following:

Unstructured Interviews

Structured Interviews

Psychometric Tests and Structured Interviews

Other Methods of Assessment

Psychometric Tests and other Selection Methods

Psychometric Tests for development, coaching, careers advice and team-building

Psychometrics Journal – Free Access for a month

Online Psychometric Testing Mini-Course: Session 2

In this session we will explore the following:

Different categories of psychometric tests

Maximum Performance Tests

Typical Behaviour Tests

Psychometric Testing Singapore: BPS Level A & B Certificates of Competence – October Course Dates

Online Psychometric Test Mini-Course: Lesson 1

Welcome to our first session in Psychometric Testing!

What is a psychometric test? How are they developed?

What is the history of psychometric testing?

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