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Posts Tagged ‘bps level a singapore’
Thursday, January 13th, 2011
PsyAsia is pleased to advise clients that we have extended our special 50% discount offer for those who register for our Psychometric Test Training Course: BPS Level A & B in Singapore until the end of January. Any client who registers for the Level A and B course will be offered a 50% discount on the Saville Consulting Wave accreditation course that follows the day after the Level B training; and/or, 50% off our Behaviour-based Interview Course which is confirmed for the day immediately before the Level A training. Furthermore, we are pleased to continue to offer a 50% discount off the Behaviour Based Interview Course for any client who registers for our 4-day Human Resource Management Course in Singapore on 22-25 February.
Training places are limited and courses are now beginning to fill, so please register asap to ensure your place. The above discount offers will expire on 31 January.
If you are in Hong Kong, you can also avail the offers by joining our Hong Kong Psychometric Assessment Level A and B course in March.
All course dates and details as well as email links can be found from here: http://dates.psyasia.com
Kindly contact us on Singapore +65 6521 3131 or Hong Kong +852 8200 6005 for full details.
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, online psychometric test training, psychometric course hong kong, psychometric test training singapore, saville consulting wave course, singapore psychometric tests
Posted in BPS Level A & B Certificates, BPS Level A Certificates, BPS Level B Certificates of Competence in Occupational Testing, Competence in Psychometric Testing, Human Resource Management, Personality Tests, Psychometric Test Training, Psychometric Tests in HRM, Saville Consulting Wave | No Comments »
Friday, September 24th, 2010
In this session we will explore the following:
1. Computer-based scoring of psychometric tests
2. Hand-scoring of psychometric tests
3. Norming of test results
4. The link between scoring of tests and reliability
Converting raw scores to standardised scores and using representative norms will be covered in a later session.
Once a psychometric test has been properly administered, it needs to be scored. Depending on the test chosen, you may have a few options.
a. You can opt for computer-based scoring.
This would work if you had administered the test using computer software or if you had asked your candidate to complete an online test. For online tests, this option is good because it is less likely to involve scoring errors! Your candidate completes the test online and then the system immediately and automatically scores the test. There is no additional input required and hence less chance for error. This pre-supposes the publisher has used the correct scoring algorithms of course. Whilst most reputable test publishers will, we do know of one who had an error in a test battery that was not spotted until one of their distributors pointed out that his partner had done poorly on a test for which she was a subject matter expert!!
If you administer the test to your candidate using desktop software, you should be able to automatically score it in the same way as above.
b. You can opt for hand-scoring or a bureau service or keyed input followed by computer-scoring. You are most likely to use this option if you administered the test to your candidate using hard-copy test booklets and answer sheets.
Firstly, you’ll need to double-check the answer sheets to ensure that there are no irregularities. Ensure that it’s obvious which answer the respondent selected. Be careful with any “blobs” that may have appeared from ink or pencil smudges etc. If a respondent has changed their mind after selecting a response and has crossed it out, ensure that you only use the most recent response in scoring.
For hand-scoring using a scoring key, you’ll next need to align the scoring key with the answer sheet. The exact requirements will vary based on the test you are using, so ensure that you read and fully understand the instructions provided by the test publisher.
Once you have scored the responses, double-check your scoring. You then need to record the score. The score you calculate at this point is called the RAW SCORE. On its own, a raw score means nothing. If I tell you that you scored 54 on a numerical reasoning test or 75 on the extraversion scale of a personality assessment, you’ll need to ask me more questions before you truly understand your score. The most important question to ask would be how your score compared to others. The comparison of your score with others is called norming.
It is called norming because we compare a candidate’s score to a group of others (called the norm group) who completed the test in the past. To undertake this comparison, you can do it by way of a simple calculation or through the use of norm tables either developed by yourself or, more usually, supplied by the test publisher.
Norm tables allow us to use a standard vocabulary for expressing a candidate’s score in relation to others who have taken the test and it is for this reason that we call your new score a standardised score. A standardised score is simply your candidate’s raw score, compared with the norm group and expressed in terms of how the candidate scored in relation to others. We’ll consider standardised scores in more detail in a later lesson. You’ll see by now that your objective is to calculate the candidate’s standard score as this is the way to achieve maximum meaning. If you opt for paper and pencil tests and hand-scoring, the process can be lengthy. So are there other options?
We have already seen above that we can simply have the candidate complete an online test. However, you may not wish to do this if there are many candidates. This is because you will need as many computers as candidates if you are going to supervise them. If you are using an unsupervised test, the candidate can complete on their own PC, but you may be concerned about possible cheating and so on. This is why you may end up using paper and pencil tests (in a supervised environment). However, there is an alternative to arduous hand-scoring if you have used paper and pencil tests.
You can use the bureau service of your psychometric test distributor. You just need to check that the answer sheet is properly completed, clear and free from any irregularities and then send the answer sheet to the distributor by fax or scanned email. The bureau service will then score the test for you and send you a report.
Furthermore, you may have another option yet. If you have access to a computer or online test system, you can probably also enter the candidate’s responses to each question into the system and have the system produce the report. This is essentially what the bureau service above does for you. Doing it yourself should work out cheaper. Do be careful when you transpose the responses though – accuracy is far more important than speed unless you want to invalidate the whole process!!
Self-scoring answer sheets: Some psychometric tests are supplied with self-scoring answer sheets. These are much easier to use than non-self-scoring answer sheets. In this case you usually need to open up the answer sheet by tearing off some perforated card. Inside the answer sheet, the candidate’s responses will have been duplicated via carbon or similar onto a scoring card. Usually, you add up the number of responses (often black circles) that appear inside a circle. Those outside of a circle represent incorrect answers so don’t get counted. Once you’ve added up correct responses, you have your raw score. Slightly different procedures obviously apply for personality assessments and fewer personality assessments provide self-scoring answer sheets due to their scoring complexity. When using self-scoring answer sheets you need to be especially careful to ensure that the candidate presses hard on the answer sheet when completing the test. If they are light-handed their responses may not come through onto the scoring card!
Finally, let’s consider the link between psychometric test scoring and reliability/validity. As you know, the test administrator can have a huge impact upon psychometric test reliability throughout the whole process. At the scoring stage you can affect reliability simply by scoring incorrectly. This might happen because you miss the fact that a candidate crossed out their answer and changed their mind. It may also happen because you try to score fast and just don’t add up correctly. Perhaps you use the scoring key incorrectly or perhaps the scoring is so arduous (often the case for personality assessments) that you simply get lost in the scoring or incorrectly use your calculator!
Ensure therefore that you fully understand how to score the test, use the scoring key as per the publisher’s instructions, score slowly and double check or have someone else double check your scoring. If possible, use computer based scoring or self-scoring answer sheets. Incorrect scoring reduces reliability and of course that means that a valid test can become invalid and a waste of time or money!
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.
DO NOT COPY OR SAVE THIS ARTICLE TO YOUR COMPUTER.
THIS ARTICLE IS CLEARED FOR PUBLISHING ON PSYCHOLOGY1 GROUP SITES ONLY. IT REMAINS COPYRIGHT AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OF PSYASIA INTERNATIONAL PTE. LTD. YOU ARE NOT AUTHORIZED TO PUBLISH IT ON ANY OTHER SITE. YOU ARE NOT PERMITTED TO COPY/PASTE THIS ARTICLE OR TO SAVE IT TO YOUR LOCAL DRIVE. YOU ARE ONLY PERMITTED TO READ IT ONLINE AT OUR WEBSITE. VIOLATION OF THESE TERMS WILL RESULT IN BANNING OF OFFENDING IPS AND LEGAL ACTION FOR THOSE WHO REPUBLISH THIS ARTICLE WHETHER IT BE WITH OR WITHOUT A REFERENCE TO THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR.
Tags: aptitude test distributor, 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, online psychometric test training, psychometric course hong kong, psychometric test norms, psychometric test training hong kong, psychometric test training singapore, psychometric training, raw scores and standardised scores, using psychometric test results
Posted in BPS Level A & B Certificates, BPS Level A Certificates, BPS Level B Certificates of Competence in Occupational Testing, Competence in Psychometric Testing, Error in Psychometric Tests, Online Psychometric Training Mini-Course, Personality Tests, Psychometric Test Training, Psychometric Tests, Psychometric Tests in HRM, Reliability of Psychometric Tests | No Comments »
Monday, September 6th, 2010
Yesterday I was watching a program from the UK which fights for consumer rights. A segment of the program was reporting on a sofa that was not fit for purpose and this led my mind back to psychometrics. We’re always looking for easy ways to define some of the more techical aspects of psychometrics and this was a good example!
The sofa looked absolutely fine. In fact, it was beautiful leather and looked very expensive. To relate this back to psychometric testing we could say it had FACE VALIDITY. The sofa looked as if it would do the job it is supposed to do (on the face of it). Likewise, a test, be it personality or aptitude, which looks like it will do the job it is supposed to do is said to have face validity. We assess face validity simply by looking at the test. However, face validity is not very important in the grand scheme of things! It’s important for candidate buy-in of course. If you are given a test as part of a selection process and that test doesn’t seem relevant to the job you won’t be happy with the process and may not take it or the company too seriously!!
The sofa, despite looking great, had some major problems. The first time its owner sat on it, it fell apart. There were lots of flaws in the design and so on. Likewise, some of us may have experienced similar examples with second-hand cars. They may look excellent on the face of it, but then they break down on the way home! In other words, the sofa or the car are not FIT FOR PURPOSE. This is a major problem. You use psychometric tests to help discriminate between candidates and to help you select the best. If there is something fundamentally wrong with the design of the test that causes any problems, then the test will not be fit for purpose. It will not be valid, even if it has face validity.
It’s for this reason that it’s not a good idea to ask a test supplier for a free trial to “validate the test” as some of our clients ask! Often this is similar to a second-hand car buying looking at the paintwork on the car and ignoring the mechanics because they know little about them.
If you are interested in learning how to evaluate the “mechanics” of the many psychometric tests out there and knowing how to choose good from bad based on critical information, please consider attending either our face-to-face psychometric training courses in Singapore and Hong Kong or joining our live online or distance learning in psychometrics. Full details here: http://www.psychometricassessment.com/psychometric_training_courses.php
Tags: aptitude test distributor, bps certificates of competence hong kong, bps certificates of competence singapore, bps level a singapore, bps level b singapore, choosing psychometric tests, online psychometric test training, psychometric test validity, psychometric tests in asia, psychometrics, Reliability of Psychometric Tests
Posted in BPS Level A & B Certificates, BPS Level A Certificates, BPS Level B Certificates of Competence in Occupational Testing, Competence in Psychometric Testing, Error in Psychometric Tests, Personality Tests, Psychometric Test Training, Psychometric Tests, Psychometric Tests in HRM, Reliability of Psychometric Tests, Validity of Psychometric Tests | No Comments »
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 (C)2010 PsyAsia International: No Copying
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!
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.
DO NOT COPY OR SAVE THIS ARTICLE TO YOUR COMPUTER.
THIS ARTICLE IS CLEARED FOR PUBLISHING ON PSYCHOLOGY1 GROUP SITES ONLY. IT REMAINS COPYRIGHT AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OF PSYASIA INTERNATIONAL PTE. LTD. YOU ARE NOT AUTHORIZED TO PUBLISH IT ON ANY OTHER SITE. YOU ARE NOT PERMITTED TO COPY/PASTE THIS ARTICLE OR TO SAVE IT TO YOUR LOCAL DRIVE. YOU ARE ONLY PERMITTED TO READ IT ONLINE AT OUR WEBSITE. VIOLATION OF THESE TERMS WILL RESULT IN BANNING OF OFFENDING IPS AND LEGAL ACTION FOR THOSE WHO REPUBLISH THIS ARTICLE WHETHER IT BE WITH OR WITHOUT A REFERENCE TO THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR.
Tags: bps certificates of competence singapore, bps level a singapore, bps level b hong kong, bps level b singapore, choosing psychometric tests, hrm and psychometrics, level b occupational testing singapore, online psychometric test training, online training in psychometric tests, personality test training singapore, psychometric assessment singapore, psychometric test training hong kong, psychometric tests and human resource management, Reliability of Psychometric Tests
Posted in BPS Level A & B Certificates, BPS Level A Certificates, BPS Level B Certificates of Competence in Occupational Testing, Competence in Psychometric Testing, Online Psychometric Training Mini-Course, Psychometric Test Training, Psychometric Tests in HRM, Reliability of Psychometric Tests | No Comments »
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: Apollo Profile, bps certificates of competence singapore, bps level a singapore, bps level b singapore, Identity Self-Perception Questionnaire, level a occupational testing singapore, level b occupational testing singapore, personality test training singapore, psychometric assessment singapore, psychometric test singapore, psychometric test training singapore, Saville Consulting Wave, saville wave, singapore psychometric tests, wave personality test
Posted in Apollo Profile Training, BPS Level A & B Certificates, BPS Level A Certificates, BPS Level B Certificates of Competence in Occupational Testing, Psychometric Test Training, Saville Consulting Wave | No Comments »
Monday, July 5th, 2010
PsyAsia International is delighted to offer a free one hour session for those interested in our Psychometric Assessment at Work Course to meet with the course facilitator online and ask any questions you may have. The agenda is set by attendees based on the questions you enter when registering! We’ll also show you some course slides along with snippets from the course workbooks and manual.
This complimentary session is for anybody seriously interested in attending our October course in Singapore. We only accept registrations from corporate email addresses and from those entering truthful data in the registration. We’ve set the start time just at the end of your working day so as not to take you away from your duties!
Our Psychometric Assessment at Work Course is run by award-winning and published registered organisational psychologist Dr. Graham Tyler. Dr. Tyler is a joint resident of Singapore and Hong Kong and has extensive experience of researching and applying psychometric tests throughout Asia.
System Requirements
PC-based attendees
Required: Windows® 7, Vista, XP, 2003 Server or 2000
Macintosh®-based attendees
Required: Mac OS® X 10.4.11 (Tiger®) or newer
Tags: bps level a singapore, bps level b singapore, facilitator psychometric test training, psychometric assessment training, psychometric test course singapore, psychometric training
Posted in BPS Level A & B Certificates, Psychometric Test Training, Psychometric Test Webinars, Psychometric Tests | Comments Off
Friday, March 26th, 2010
 PsychometricAssessment.com / PsyAsia International offer Free Psychometric Testing Course in Hong Kong & Singapore Introduction to Psychometric Testing Course: Hong Kong, 4 May 2010; Singapore, 11 May 2010
PsyAsia International is Asia’s independent Leader in Psychometric Test products and Training. We choose to distribute only the world’s best, most validated psychometric assessments and offer locally relevant, world-class training in psychometrics. The Introduction to Psychometrics Workshop expands on PsyAsia’s expertise in Psychometric Training in Asia by offering a course geared to those with very little experience or understanding in Psychometrics. Many first time clients don’t understand why they need to be careful in their choice or use of psychometrics and many do not understand why training is a necessity in competent test use.
This one-day course aims to provide experienced-based training in an accessible and economical way. The course is easy to understand and yet covers many of the important issues to be aware of when choosing and using psychometric tests. Given our passion for Asia and our passion for the competent use of psychometric tests in Asia, PsyAsia makes no profit on this course. We charge delegates a small fee that reflects the cost of the hotel venue (including buffet lunch and refreshments) where the training is held as well as materials that we provide to the delegates. What’s more, if you later decide to attend one of our accreditation courses in Psychometrics, we will issue you with a discount code that reduces your course fee by the amount you paid for this course!
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 The history of psychometric testing
Comparison of psychometric tests with other modes of employee testing and assessment
The benefit of using psychometric tests in recruitment/selection, development and coaching
Reliability in psychometric testing
Validity in psychometric testing
Error in psychometric testing
Review of different aptitude, personality and values tests on the market
Questions to ask your test publisher or distributor
What next?Note: During the workshop, delegates will create quasi-psychometric tests in groups to enable a hands-on exploration of issues such as reliability, error and validity in psychometric tests. |
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To view full course details and to register, please click here.
Tags: aptitude test distributor, 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, choosing psychometric tests, free psychometric test course, hong kong psychometric tests, level a occupational testing singapore, personality test distributor, personality test training singapore, psychometric assessment singapore, psychometric course hong kong, psychometric test training hong kong, singapore psychometric tests
Posted in BPS Level A & B Certificates, Competence in Psychometric Testing, Psychometric Test Training, Psychometric Test Webinars, Psychometric Tests, Psychometric Tests in HRM, Validity of Psychometric Tests | No Comments »
Saturday, March 20th, 2010
PsyAsia International is pleased to announce that until the end of March we will be offering free daily webinars to showcase our product range. Their will be no set agenda. The agenda will be set by attendees. Please note however that product knowledge may differ depending on which of our consultants is running the webinar. Come along and chat with our consultants, see the Saville Consulting Wave, Identity Personality Assessment and the Apollo Profile in action. Ask questions about training and consulting options and so forth!
For times and to register, please click here…
Tags: Apollo Profile, aptitude test distributor, 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, choosing psychometric tests, hong kong psychometric tests, Identity Self-Perception Questionnaire, level a occupational testing singapore, level b occupational testing singapore, personality assessment, personality questionnaire, personality test distributor, personality test training singapore, Personality Tests, psychometric assessment singapore, psychometric course hong kong, psychometric course singapore, psychometric personality tests, psychometric test singapore, psychometric test training hong kong, psychometric test training singapore, Saville Consulting Wave, saville oasys, singapore psychometric tests, wave personality test
Posted in BPS Level A & B Certificates, Competence in Psychometric Testing, Online Psychometric Test Systems, Performance Appraisal Systems, Personality Tests, Psychometric Test Webinars, Psychometric Tests, Psychometric Tests in HRM, Saville Consulting Wave | No Comments »
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 »
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.
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