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Archive for the ‘BPS Level A & B Certificates’ Category
Friday, February 19th, 2010
PsyAsia International has announced new dates for our Psychometric Assessment at Work Course in Singapore.
(Interested in attending this course in Hong Kong? Check the next post!)
PsyAsia has been running this course in Singapore and Hong Kong since 2002 and has collected many impressive delegate reviews. We were the first company to bring regular public BPS Level A and B training to Singapore and today we retain the only resident facilitators for this training!
The course is run by a British Psychological Society award-winning resident and registered business psychologist with a PhD earned through work with validation of Psychometric Tests in Asia. For more details of the course and facilitator and to register online, please click here.
The Singapore Psychometric Assessment at Work course will run over the following dates:
BPS Level A:
12-14 May 2010 or 9-11 June 2010
BPS Level B:
14-16 June 2010
Psychometric Test Administration only:
12 May or 9 June / or Live Online Training 30 March-01 April 5pm-6.20pm each day.
The dates are arranged as above to enable our delegates to choose whether to complete the whole course at once (9-11 June and 14-16 June) or to complete Level A first, then have a break before moving on to Level B (12-14 May and then 14-16 June). In addition, delegates may choose to only attend 5 days of the course and instead to attend our online Test Administration Training (see above), removing the need for attendance on 12 May or 9 June. Delegates will still need to be prepared to be assessed on Test Admin and Test Scoring once they attend! Please contact us before registering if you wish to choose this option.
Note: our March 2010 course in Singapore was fully booked (and in fact oversubscribed with a waiting list) 3 weeks before the course. Please ensure therefore that you register early. Early registration has additional benefits which include full access to this course’s area of our innovative online learning center where you can download training videos/courses, interact with other delegates, join in the forum and online chat and benefit from optional online live training with your facilitator even before the face-to-face training commences!
The day immediately following Level B is conversion training for the Saville Consulting Wave®. Level B delegates may register for this training at 50% off the regular fee by selecting that option during the booking process. In addition, anybody who registers for our BPS Level A/B Training before March 18 can join any other PsyAsia course at a 30% discount off the regular fee – please contact us for a special discount code if you wish to use this offer!
Tags: accreditation psychometric test, bps certificates of competence singapore, bps level a singapore, bps level b singapore, personality test training singapore, psychological testing certification, psychometric training, singapore psychometric tests
Posted in BPS Level A & B Certificates, Competence in Psychometric Testing, Psychometric Test Training, Psychometric Tests, Saville Consulting Wave | No Comments »
Wednesday, February 10th, 2010
Identity Questionnaire Research Results – A synopsis
No reproduction without permission.
Introduction to the Study and Outline of the Phases
In September 2008, Quest Partnership Ltd, PsyAsia International, and the Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education (HKIVE) embarked on a project to translate the Identity Self-Perception Questionnaire from English into traditional Chinese. The reason for translating the questionnaire was to produce an occupationally focused personality questionnaire that could be used in China and Hong Kong SAR. At the same time, Quest were also producing a new Careers Report for the Identity system. This enabled the volunteer students to gain useful feedback on their questionnaire. The project was headed up by Max Choi of Quest Partnership Ltd and Dr. Graham Tyler of PsyAsia International. Max Choi is an Occupational Psychologist with BPS chartered status and has substantial experience in designing and validating tests. Graham Tyler is a registered psychologist and has a PhD based on psychometric assessment and validating tools for predicting performance at work in Asia.
The research was split into several stages:
• Translations – involving the translation and back-translation of Identity into Simplified and Traditional Chinese by professional staff at HKIVE.
• Pilot Study – using the translated Identity questionnaire.
• Phase 1 Testing – a sample of participants at HKIVE completed the Chinese Identity questionnaire.
• Phase 2 Re-testing – participants were asked to complete the questionnaire for a second time one month later i.e. re-testing to determine the reliability of the questionnaire items.
• Data Cleansing – first to identify and remove ‘rogue’ answer sheets from students who did not complete the questionnaire seriously.
• Data Analysis & Results– analysis of the data and understanding the results.
• Producing Norms and Building this into the New Career Focus Report – norms were produced based on these Hong Kong students. This norm group was used for the new Career Focus Report which is now available for the Hong Kong education sector.
• Translation into Simplified Chinese – the project to translate the Identity Questionnaire into simplified Chinese and have it available online was completed in December 2009.
Translations
In September 2008, the questionnaire was translated into both Traditional and Simplified Chinese by 4 individuals at the HKIVE who hold the British Psychological Society’s Level A and B Certificates of Competence in Occupational Testing. This process was supervised by Dr. Graham Tyler, who has a good understanding of principles behind item construction. The translated questionnaire was sent to the test publishers (Quest Partnership Ltd) in the UK for evaluation and further refinement, working with Chinese natives now resident in the UK.
The translated questionnaire was then back-translated into English by lecturers in the English language department at the HKIVE. Independent back-translation provides the quality check of how effective the translation has been. The back-translation was checked against the original version of the questionnaire to ensure it retained its overall theme and meaning. A few items achieved poor back-translations and these were reviewed and improved and back-translated again to check that the translation had improved. The traditional Chinese translation took precedence on the basis that this would be evaluated first and then simplified Chinese would follow at a later date.
Pilot Sample
20 students at VTC completed the translated traditional Chinese questionnaire. They also completed a form which collected their feedback on items that they did not fully understand or where they felt the wording could be improved. This feedback was analysed and a few minor improvements were made for the next phase.
Phase 1 Testing
In October 2008, a large sample of 800+ Chinese students at HKIVE completed the Traditional Chinese Identity Questionnaire. Most of these administrations were conducted under standardised test administration conditions during classes. The final sample after data cleansing consisted of 421 students.
Phase 2 Testing
One month later many of the Chinese students from the Phase 1 testing were invited to complete the questionnaire again. The test-retest study is based on 206 students who completed the questionnaire again. Most of these administrations were conducted under standardised test administration conditions during classes.
Students were entered into a monetary prize draw as an incentive to take part in the research. Also, students received a Career Focus Report from their completed questionnaire.
Data Cleansing
Identifying ‘Rogue’ Responses
We placed stringent requirements on the data that could be used. It was evident that a proportion of the student responses were not usable. This may be as a consequence of asking the students to complete the questionnaire as part of class work. So although they were volunteers, the request during class time may have resulted in some slightly ‘reluctant’ volunteers. Also, others may have become bored after starting the questionnaire and may not have taken the whole questionnaire seriously, unlike real candidates applying for jobs. So a small minority will complete the questionnaire in a non-serious manner. Only a few rogue answer sheets can be visually identified (e.g. students who have put in the same response for the whole column or making neat zig-zag patterns on the answer sheet). So we needed to employ more sophisticated techniques to identify other ‘rogue’ respondents in order to remove these from our sample before conducting further analysis on the data.
Removing Answer Sheets with Too Many ‘3’ Responses
The instructions for completing the questionnaire clearly states that 3 should be used sparingly. But for this Chinese student sample, the mean number of ‘3’s chosen was 30.4, with a Standard Deviation (SD) of 32. For our UK sample however, the mean number of ‘3’s chosen was 9.85, with a SD of 15. It was decided that participants who responded with over 71 unsure ‘3’ responses would be removed from the sample i.e. this means that they are putting down ‘3’ to over a third of their questionnaire items – which is much too high. A caveat to this however is that given the “middle-way” philosophy in the East, it can generally be anticipated that central tendency responding will be higher in China than in the West.
Removing Answer Sheets with Random Responses
We employed two established methods to detect answer sheets which were being completed randomly i.e. the True Response Inconsistency (TRIN) and the Variable Response Inconsistency (VRIN) methods. Both methods are based on paired items which are highly associated in that knowing an individual’s response to one item will provide a very high level of prediction of their response to the other item. Therefore, when a person scores below a certain threshold with many paired items, we can be confident that their responses to the questionnaire have been random.
Data Analysis and Results
Test Re-Test Reliability
At Phase 2, students completed the Identity Questionnaire again about one month after the Phase 1 original completion of the questionnaire; we were able to conduct a Test-Retest analysis. This allows us to look into the stability or reliability of the questionnaire over time.
The final sample size for the test-retest was 206 after all the data cleansing procedures were conducted. Overall the vast majority of Identity scales were reliable. A small number of scales were below the benchmark of .70. However we need to be reminded that we are dealing with a translated questionnaire so we would expect some loss of reliability compared to the original questionnaire. So the original English Identity questionnaire sets the upper limits.
The original English Identity single scale test-retest coefficients ranged from .77 to .92 (based on a test-retest sample of 121). For the translated traditional Chinese questionnaire the test-retest coefficients ranged from .58 to .87. Seven of the 36 Identity questionnaire scales reported less than ideal test-retest coefficients:
• Consultative .57
• Psychological .61
• Empathy .57
• Adaptability .60
• Theoretical .62
• Rational .59
• Reflective .58
Interestingly, it might be argued that these scales are less meaningful to this student sample and different results are likely to be obtained in a business sample.
Internal Consistency Reliability
Another method to determine reliability is to look at internal consistency of each scale to see how well items within a scale correspond with one another. From this analysis we identified nine scales at a lower range of reliability coefficients than our ideal of 0.7:
• Social Presence .60
• Direct .61
• Empathy .58
• Adaptability .60
• Decisive .67
• Self Potency .53
• Self Protecting .62
• Social Desirability .63
• Reflective .43
Combining the two methods of establishing reliability it was useful to see if there were any scales that would have both low test-retest and low internal consistency reliability. The following 2 scales had lower reliabilities than ideal:
• Empathy
• Adaptability
We will be collecting more data so with more extensive use of the tool with participants who will be completing the questionnaire for non-research purposes we do expect the reliabilities to improve.
Study Results: Comparisons with UK Data
The results for this group of Hong Kong students were compared against the UK working population and also against a group of UK A Level applicants and Final Year Students for a Design & Technology course at a UK university.
The group of Hong Kong students compared to the other groups tended to be slightly lower on the following scales:
• Independent
• Critical
• Multi-Tasking
• Variety Seeking
• Determined
• Self Potency
• Positive
However, it is not possible to determine exactly why these differences are found as there are a range of variables as to how the groups differ from each other e.g. motivational aspects as the students were volunteers rather than real job applicants; age differences; cultural and educational experience differences; work experience differences.
Producing Norms & Developing the Career Focus Report
A set of Hong Kong student norms has been established (N= 421) and more data will be added to this at a later date when it becomes available.
At the same time as this research Quest Partnership also developed a new Career Focus Report for Identity and participating students were provided with a report. This new report has been developed with educational clients in mind but can be used by other clients supporting individuals with career guidance. Currently, the report can be normed against the UK working population and the Hong Kong students.
Translation into Simplified Chinese
The project then made traditional Chinese available as an online solution for clients with a view to collect on-going norms data and to work with any clients who can support with validation studies. In December 2009 the simplified Chinese version was also made available online.
If you are interested in training to use the Identity Questionnaire or if you would like to work with PsyAsia in distributing this assessment, please do get in touch with us.
Tags: Identity personality test, Identity questionnaire, Identity Self-Perception Questionnaire, Identity training, personality questionnaires, personality test distributor, personality test training, personality test training singapore, personality training
Posted in BPS Level A & B Certificates, Competence in Psychometric Testing, Online Psychometric Test Systems, Psychometric Test Research, Psychometric Test Training, Reliability of Psychometric Tests | No Comments »
Friday, January 15th, 2010
Types of Bias in Psychometric Test Translation
With the demand and need for psychological tests increasing in various different cultures and countries, there has been much greater awareness regarding some of the issues that are associated with the development or adaptation of tests to be used in contexts and situations that may be different from which the test was developed for. This article focuses on one of the key aspects of translating tests, the types of bias that can occur.
When utilizing the test in a new cultural group, it is not quite as simple as directly translating the test, administering it and then comparing the results for its validity. There are a number of issues that need to be considered such as whether the area assessed with the test applies to the new culture or whether is may be biased towards that group and whether what is assessed by the test also has similar behavioral indicators? These are just some of the potential areas where bias can be found in the translation of tests and affect the validity of the test being utilized in the new context.
Van der Vijer & Hambleton (1996) differentiates between three distinct types of bias that may affect the validity of tests that have been adapted for different cultural contexts and these are construct bias, method bias and item bias.
Construct bias occurs when the construct (e.g. personality) that is measured by the test displays significant differences between the original culture for which it was developed and the new culture where it is going to be utilized. These differences can occur in the way that the construct was formulated and developed as well as in the relevant behaviors that are associated with the construct. It is critical to examine whether the underlying theory of the test is subject to construct bias and this can be examined through the studies examining the construct and its associated behaviors in the context that it will be utilized in. If there are significant differences found in these studies, it may indicative that there is construct bias. Major revisions may be required to overcome this bias. If not, the validity of the test will be affected.
Method bias refers to factors or issues related to the administration of the test that may affect the validity of the test. Examples of areas that method bias can occur include social desirability, acquiescence response styles, the conditions in which the test was conducted and the motivation of the respondents. Across cultures, there potentially can be differences that can occur in these areas and these can affect the way that the respondents answer the items in the test. This potentially may lead to differences between found that can be erroneously attributed to cultural differences when in fact, these differences are the result of differences in the administration procedures. As a result, it is threat to the validity of tests that have been adapted for use in new cultures. Test developers also not only need to focus on the adaptation of the test itself but also need to be aware of issues regarding the implementation of the test in a new context.
Item bias is another source of bias that can occur in the translation of tests and these refer to biases that occur with the items in the test. This is usually the result of either poor translation choices for items or due to culturally inappropriate translations. For example, the phrase “kick the bucket” is essentially a phrase that referring to passing away in the Western context and is commonly known by most people in that culture; unfortunately, this phrase would have no meaning for people from cultures without any prior experience with that phrase. In this manner, a literal translation of that phrase would be a poor translation as it does not convey the correct meaning of the item. The items in the test need to be culturally equivalent, where the meaning of the items needs to be correctly translated so as to maintain the validity of the test in the new cultural context.
These are some of the biases that may occur during the translation of tests. Test developers will need to be aware of the sources of bias and take the appropriate measures to avoid these biases.
References:
Van der Vijer, F. and Hambleton, R. K. (1996). Translating tests: some practical guidelines. European Psychologist, 1, 89-99.
Psychometric Training in Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and China
If you are serious about using psychometric tests properly then we recommend joining PsyAsia International’s Psychometric Assessment at Work Course which leads to a certificate of competence in Occupational Testing Level A and Level B from the British Psychological Society. The Course is run publically in Singapore and Hong Kong or in-house anywhere.
More details about BPS Level A and B in Singapore and Hong Kong
Online Psychometric Training – Worldwide
Alternatively, you might be interested in introductory Online Psychometric Test Training presented live by a registered psychologist. PsyAsia is offering a special fee of just US$12 for anybody who registers for the February online psychometric training course!
More details about online psychometric test training
Tags: bps certificates of competence singapore, bps level a hong kong, bps level a singapore, bps level b hong kong, bps level b singapore, choosing psychometric tests, level a occupational testing singapore, level b occupational testing singapore, personality assessment, Personality Tests, Reliability of Psychometric Tests, using psychometric test results
Posted in BPS Level A & B Certificates, Competence in Psychometric Testing, Error in Psychometric Tests, Personality Tests, Psychometric Test Training, Psychometric Tests, Reliability of Psychometric Tests, Validity of Psychometric Tests | No Comments »
Monday, January 11th, 2010
Introduction
PsyAsia International is pleased to announce an exceptional offer for those interested in learning psychometric test administration from the comfort of their office or home.
Why only US$12?
Some months ago PsyAsia International was chosen to become part of the panel of beta-testers for a new online training software. The beta program will end next month as the software is almost ready to go live. In view of this PsyAsia is now ready to use the software as our final stage in the beta program with our valued clients. For this reason, rather than charging the regular fee for our online psychometric test administration training course, we are offering similar training for just a $12 registration fee.
Your facilitator
PsyAsia International is well known for professional and competent training in Psychometrics. This course will be no different. It will be facilitated live by award-winning psychologist Dr. Graham Tyler.
Course Outline
This is a first-level introductory course in psychometric test administration. The course will prepare attendees to become more competent in administering psychometric tests.
-What is a psychometric test
-Types of psychometric tests
-Requirements of good tests
-Psychometric Principles
-Reliability
-Validity
-Running a psychometric test session
-Candidate questions and deviance
-Scoring and norming of tests
-Ethical test use
More offers
Those who register for this online course, pay the US$12 fee and attend all 3 one hour sessions may also register for our 1-day BPS Test Administration Certificate Course in February in Singapore or March in Hong Kong at a 15% discount. Alternatively, you may choose to attend only the afternoon of the above training (which is mainly practical assessments) and pay only 50% of the published course fee. You will need to pay the BPS Assessment fee at the current rate if you wish to be assessed for the BPS certificate. A PsyAsia certificate will be presented to all attendees at the real-life course. Discount codes will be sent to eligible persons after the final training session.
Registration Process
Registration is simple! Click on the link below. Complete the short registration form and ensure that you provide your work email address (free accounts such as yahoo/gmail/hotmail etc will be rejected). Within one working day of completing the form you will receive an email from Paypal with a request for your US$12 payment. Click on the link in the email and pay using your credit card at the paypal site. Within one working day of your payment we will approve your registration and send you a link to download some files that we will use during the training and complete a pre-course quiz. The email will also contain a link for you to log-into each training session. Please pay the registration fee as soon as you can to avoid losing your place. Places are available on a first-paid/first-confirmed basis!!
Click here to register
How the training works
You will need a computer with a reasonable internet connection along with a microphone/headphone set. The training will be transmitted to your computer in slide form and live demo of various systems and websites related to psychometrics. The facilitator will use a mic to teach you. You will also have the opportunity to share with other attendees and ask questions either by way of your microphone or text chat.
Terms and Conditions
The training is open to anybody worldwide who is able to attend on all 3 days between 5pm and 6pm Singapore/Hong Kong time and who can satisfy ALL of the following:
1. Register with accurate data and a work email account
2. Pay the US$12 registration fee
3. Have a computer with an internet connection/headset and mic. However, you may choose to telephone in rather than use a mic/headphone. In this case you must be happy calling a number in USA, New Zealand or Australia. The number will be provided with your registration.
4. Must not be already trained in test administration or BPS Level A – this is because we want to give this opportunity to those who want to learn something new rather than those who may be more interested in finding out how our system works!
5. Must not be a competitor
Click here to register
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Posted in BPS Level A & B Certificates, Psychometric Test Training, Psychometric Test Webinars, Psychometric Tests | No Comments »
Friday, November 20th, 2009
The Market for Psychometrics in Singapore
There are so many Psychometric Tests on the market in Singapore now, the task of choosing the right one is not easy. Choice is always a good thing, however as humans we often look for easy or stereotypical ways of making those choices and they are not always the best ones to make. For example, a client of ours was preparing for an upcoming team-building session. He approached us asking if we had a certain test that he could use in that session. Our answer was that we don’t supply that test for various very good reasons. The client’s response was “but so many people use it”. This is a typical response. Another potential client had been looking around in Singapore for Psychometric Personality Tests to use in his training sessions as an added benefit. He categorically advised us that he was not interested in validity and was looking for something simple and cheap! The reality here is that at best he is wasting his time and the time of those who will complete his tests. At worst and most likely, his trainees will be led to believe things about themselves which frankly may not be true (reliable or valid!).
Science, Psychology, Psychometrics and the Real World of Business
As busy professionals we often assume that if lots of other people are using a test it must be a good one. This is a huge mistake. Our evolution has programmed us to be seduced by glossy advertising materials and confident, friendly salespeople. On the other hand, we have a tendency to be turned off by less glossy scientific figures, statistics and perhaps psychologists such as myself who speak about the science and real value behind a test, its validity! Ultimately then, both our clients and ourselves as psychologists have problems to overcome!!
Psychologists have to be able to explain in more “glossy” terms about the technical properties of a test and our clients, usually the HR and aligned professions, are invited to turn their ears our way for a little while, just long enough to get the notion that there is more to a psychometric test than meets the eye!
Technical Properties of Psychometric Tests
When we talk of the technical properties of a psychometric test, we are referring to things such as its reliability and validity as well as how it was constructed. If a test is constructed well, it will take time. Not months, often years. The test will also evolve over time such that more and validity data will be added to its manuals. This process is costly, hence good tests cost money.
If you come across cheap tests, that should start to ring alarm bells. It’s possible to write a few questions on a napkin in a restaurant and call it psychometric and even try to sell it. If it looks good and the questions look relevant perhaps it will sell and gain a huge following. But how reliable is that test?
In other words, can it provide consistent measurement of your candidate? If your bathroom scales provide different results each time you weight yourself you take them back and say these are not reliable. Likewise with a test, you need to ensure that it is consistently assessing the constructs that it purports to assess. We often come across new clients who are shocked when we tell them that good personality tests often contain around 200 questions. However, buyer beware! We know that the longer the test, the more reliable the results (as long as it is not so long that the candidate falls asleep!).
An unreliable test can not be a valid test, hence reliability is a precursor to validity. However, validity is arguably the most important aspect of a test. You choose to use tests because you want them to illustrate where a candidate stands in terms of their ability or personality or in order to predict how your candidate will perform or behave in a job. The test’s ability to meet this need is referred to as validity.
Some tests on the market are simply more valid that others. In fact, one test in the past year has proven to be more valid than all other tests it was compared with on the market! How come users stay with their current test then? Perhaps because of preference, habit, price, mass-following and so on. However, do ask yourself and your test supplier, how valid is your test – this is the single most important technical property in a psychometric test!
Sometimes tests which are more valid will be more expensive but this makes sense. If a test took a long time to develop, was developed well and by a reputable publisher and is based on well founded theories that have been researched internationally, then surely it is worth paying the extra as such a test will provide an excellent return on investment with its strong validity.
Training to use Psychometric Tests in Singapore
Properly developed psychometric tests require proper training to be used competently. If your test supplier requires that you undergo very limited or no training, this is a reflection of the test as well as their lack of understanding of psychometrics. You need to understand the concepts referred to above, as well as error in testing and how to make decisions based on test results, let alone how to feed back results properly to candidates and decision-makers. The type of questions (i.e., forced choice versus rating scales) will also dictate how you can use the results – you need to be trained to understand this! In some parts of the world (South Africa for example), only psychologists can use psychometric tests. Whilst this is a strict rule, it has its logical basis in how easy it is for untrained professionals to use tests wrongly.
Purchasing Psychometric Tests in Singapore
You may also wish to consider where you purchase your tests from, particularly in Singapore. In recent years we have seen an influx of profiteers in the industry who seek to make money but lack any depth of understanding in psychometrics or psychology at work. This will change in time as psychology in Singapore develops. For now however, be wary of this and we suggest that you only purchase psychometric tests from fully registered organisational psychologists who have a firm grounding in personality, psychometrics and psychology at work and who are answerable to professional competence and ethics boards. Many of those selling psychometric tests in Singapore are simply not answerable to anybody in terms of their conduct or competence. You can therefore not be certain that any advice they provide is relevant, up-to-date or will work in your organisation.
There are many more things to be aware of when choosing psychometric tests in Singapore. We cannot entertain them all here due to space constraints. You may wish to look out for training courses in Psychometric Assessment such as our our Psychometric Assessment at Work training which leads to the internationally recognised British Psychological Society Level A and B Certificates of Competence in Occupational Testing. Such courses will prepare you further for choosing the right test and therein avoid costly selection and development mistakes. Look for courses run by experts in psychometrics who are based in Singapore and hence have a strong understanding of test use aligned with local culture, laws and practice.
Note: some Singapore firms will ship in overseas trainers to run psychometric training. We suggest you avoid this training reseller model given that the facilitator is based overseas and is thus likely to lack knowledge of the Singapore business/legal and cultural environment for Psychometric Testing.
This article is Copyright PsyAsia International Pte Ltd.
It was originally written for Human Resources Magazine in Singapore
A shorter version of the article appears in the magazine’s November 2009 issue
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Posted in BPS Level A & B Certificates, Competence in Psychometric Testing, Psychometric Test Training, Psychometric Tests, Reliability of Psychometric Tests, Validity of Psychometric Tests | Comments Off
Friday, November 20th, 2009
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 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.
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Tags: online psychometric course, online psychometric test training, psychometric test singapore, psychometric testing hong kong, psychometric training
Posted in BPS Level A & B Certificates, Competence in Psychometric Testing, Online Psychometric Training Mini-Course, Psychometric Tests, Psychometric Tests in HRM | Comments Off
Tuesday, June 16th, 2009
British Psychological Society Level A and Level B Certificates of Competence in Occupational Testing Singapore and Hong Kong Public Courses / Asia in-house training
Introduction
PsyAsia International is pleased to offer public training for BPS Level A Occupational Testing and BPS Level B Occupational Testing in Singapore and Hong Kong. We have a strong reputation as Asia’s leading and most experienced psychometric assessment training provider. Training is provided by resident psychologists who are fully registered with professional practice boards. We do not bring in overseas facilitators to run training. What’s more, being psychologists, PsyAsia provides all the post-course support necessary ourselves – there is no need to send your queries outside of Singapore or Hong Kong or have a local non-psychologist representative “try” to give you the correct answer! More still, your money stays in Singapore or Hong Kong to fund the country and the wealth of its people! For more reasons to choose us for Psychometric Assessment Training, click here.
What is the BPS Level A Certificate of Competence in Occupational Testing?
It is a certification recognised internationally which demonstrates that the holder has a high level of competence in the foundation and theory of psychometric tests in general and the application and professional use of aptitude tests in particular. Our Level A course syllabus has the following learning objectives:
- Register with all UK test publishers and be able to purchase tests.
- Understand the range and types of tests available.
- When to use tests, and importantly – when not to.
- Decide which tests are appropriate for a particular situation.
- Conduct a job analysis and identify the assessment requirements.
- Have an appreciation of other assessment methods.
- Administer, score and interpret aptitude tests.
- Make informed decisions using test data.
- 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.
Full details of our BPS Level A Training in Singapore and Hong Kong
Download Psychometric Assessment at Work Course Factsheet
What is the BPS Level B Certificate of Competence in Occupational Testing?
It is a certification recognised internationally which demonstrates that the holder has a high level of competence in Psychometric Assessments of Personality. Our Level B course syllabus has the following learning objectives:
- Increase delegate’s 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 their approach 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 to employment legislation.
Full details of our BPS Level B Training in Singapore and Hong Kong
Download Psychometric Assessment at Work Course Factsheet
Who is the facilitator for the Level A and B Training?
Dr. Graham Tyler is an award-winning registered organisational psychologist and resident of both Singapore and Hong Kong. He is Executive Director of PsyAsia International, a university lecturer, a published author and a reviewer for the Journal of Personality and Individual Differences among other things. As a resident of Asia, he has a passion for Asia as well as for ensuring psychometric test competence in Asia. He was the first to bring regular BPS Level A and B training to Singapore and Hong Kong. His PhD focussed on psychometric assessment and performance at work in Asian organisations. You can read more about Dr.Tyler and his work here.
Psychometric Test Training Course Dates
To view published dates for any of our psychometric training courses, including the BPS Level A and B Certificates in Singapore and Hong Kong, kindly click here.
Training for the BPS Certificates of Competence in Occupational Testing outside of Singapore and Hong Kong?
If you are not in Singapore or Hong Kong and do not wish to travel to these places, you may wish to consider inviting us to run an in-house course for you. We have run in-house psychometric training in many places over the years, including Malaysia, China, India, Dubai, Qatar and Thailand. Additionally, we have a partner in the UK who runs public training in Gloucestershire and London and we accept bookings for their courses at our website. To view all published course dates please click here.
Frequently asked questions about PsyAsia’s Psychometric Assessment at Work Course
which leads to the BPS Level A and B Certificates
With our wealth of experience in running these courses, PsyAsia has built up a knowledgebase of FAQs over the years. Please view our <a href=”" mce_href=”" Psychometric Assessment Training FAQs here:
http://www.psyasia.com/supportsuite/index.php?_m=knowledgebase&_a=view&parentcategoryid=3&pcid=2&nav=0,2
What if the BPS Level A and B Certification is not for me?
Sure, the course is hard work and it is a long course (6 days!). At the end of the course you will be extremely confident about test use and will be
able to order just about any aptitude test on the market. You will be qualified to use the Identity Personality Questionnaire and the Apollo Profile (provided you sit the free Apollo Exam). However, this particular course is not for everyone! In view of this, PsyAsia – as Asia’s leading psychometric test training organisation – provides a range of other options:
Look out for our new modular training and live online learning coming late in 2009…another first from PsyAsia!
Article copyrght PsyAsia International Pte Ltd
Not to be posted on any non PsyAsia or Psychology1 Group Site
Tags: bps certificates of competence hong kong, bps certificates of competence singapore, bps level a hong kong, bps level a singapore, bps level b hong kong, bps level b singapore, level a occupational testing singapore, level b occupational testing singapore, personality test training singapore, psychometric course hong kong, psychometric course singapore, psychometric test training singapore
Posted in BPS Level A & B Certificates, Psychometric Test Training | Comments Off
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