Complimentary Psychometrics Webinar: Questions HR should and should not ask when “evaluating” Psychometric Tests
PsyAsia International invites you to a complimentary webinar that will cover the questions HR Professionals should and should not ask when evaluating psychometric tests. The facilitator will show you the materials referred to in the questions that you need to ask and show you how to evaluate a test distributor’s response.
This free webinar is open to all HR and related professionals based in Asia. It is not open to competitors.
You’ll go away knowing the top-5 questions to ask when evaluating a psychometric test and how to evaluate those responses at a basic level. You’ll also find out what questions are frequently asked but really should have no bearing in test choice. There will be ample time for participant questions.
REGISTER HERE: http://www.psyasia.com/hr_seminars.php
Human Resources, Recruitment & Psychometric Tests: The Right Questions to Ask When Evaluating Personality & Aptitude Tests
Introduction
Those without training in psychometrics can never effectively evaluate a psychometric test.
The following very briefly gives an overview of the questions HR should be asking when contacting test vendors.
This brief presentation is not intended to replace competent training in psychometrics.
What is the test’s rationale?
Is the vendor clear on the model behind the test?
What was the test designed to assess?
Who designed the test?
Technical data: Reliability
How consistently does the test measure what it purports to measure?
Are there documented studies to support for example test-retest reliability and internal consistency reliability? Look for .7 for personality scales and .8 for aptitude.
Does the vendor have a clue as to what you are talking about?
Technical data: Validity
Are there documented studies which show the test is “fit for purpose”?
Is there evidence for criterion validity if you will use the test to predict performance directly? Look for significant and meaningful correlations between test score and performance. How does this compare with competitors?
Is there evidence for construct validity if you will use the test to assess various aspects of personality or aptitude that you will compare to others in the belief that higher scores in these areas will lead to performance in your job? Look for significant correlations between this test and another established test assessing similar constructs.
Other aspects of validity
Content Validity
Face Validity
What about training?
If no training is required it’s either a simple test which may not suit your needs or a test that may lead you to make errors in interpretation and decision-making due to insufficient training!
Who runs the training? Is it an expert in psychology/psychometrics whose competence has been assessed by external bodies (government registration and psychological societies)?
More information
www.psyasia.com Knowledgebase
www.psychometricassessment.com/blog
www.psychometricassessment.com/training
http://dates.psyasia.com
Hong Kong(+852) 8200 6005
Singapore (+65) 6521 3131
Malaysia (+60) 03 2782 6928
Free Access to Psychometric Society Journal until 31 July
| Psychometrika – Journal of Psychometrics Society Free Trial Access until July 31, 2010! |
| From now until July 31, 2010, please enjoy free access to the journal. Click here to begin your reading. |
Free Psychometric Test Training in Singapore
Psychometrics Singapore / PsyAsia International offer Free Psychometric Testing Course in Singapore
Introduction to Psychometric Testing Course: 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 testingTo view full course details and to register, please click here.
Psychometric Training Singapore BPS Level A and B Certificates of Competence in Occupational Testing
PsyAsia International has announced new dates for our Psychometric Assessment at Work Course in Singapore.
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!
Interested in taking this course in HONG KONG?
For the next intake of students for our Psychometric Assessment at Work / BPS Level A and B course in Hong Kong, PsyAsia International is surveying interested individuals to provide us feedback on your preferred dates. Our survey is really simple with just 4 questions and will take you 30 seconds to complete. We’ll be sure to get back to you with the final confirmed dates if you leave your email address at the end of the survey. Click here to take survey
Training in Psychometric Test Administration – Online for just US$12
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 US$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$12fee 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!!
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
We wish our psychometric testing blog readers a happy holiday season!
PsyAsia International will be suspending blog posts to our educational sites at www.assessmentcentral.com, www.psychometrictests.sg and www.psychometricassessment.com/blog until after the Christmas and New Year break while our blog writers take some well earned time off. Thank you for keeping up to date with us at our blogs during 2009 and we look forward to writing more about psychometric tests, human resource management and business psychology for our readers in Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, China and worldwide. Enjoy the holidays!
Caution in the use of Psychometric Tests in Singapore
Psychometric Test Distributors in Singapore
Please be cautious when choosing your psychometric test supplier in Singapore.
There are many internet-based tests available. However, many of these are poorly developed, based on theories that have not been tested in Singapore or which have been tested and generally refuted! Many tests are ipsative-only tests and should not be used in selection, yet the less scrupulous test publisher may omit to inform you of this. Some normative tests use norm (comparison) groups that come about by way of allowing people (anybody!) to complete the test online. The sort of person who will complete a test online in his/her free-time is a specific sort of person and your candidate should perhaps not be compared to this group. Furthermore, without an understanding of sophisticated statistics and more basic statistics such as the normal distribution, any norm group you use might not be relevant simply because it has not been normally distributed. Reputable test publishers will test for these things and inform you where necessary. Moreover, reputable publishers will require that you undergo training so that you are fully aware of these issues. If your test publisher does not require training, you are likely to make fundamental errors in using psychometric tests and in the interpretations you make from them.
Furthermore, we are aware that some people who have been trained to use tests in Singapore have misrepresented the qualification they have achieved. There are people in Singapore advertising that they offer consultancy in psychometric testing. For somebody to be able to state this, one would expect that they are fully registered psychologists or psychometricians and have at least a Masters degree in Psychometric Assessment, if not a PhD! A short course in Psychometric Assessment will provide you with the necessary skills to be competent in test use, but not to act as a psychometric test consultant!
Our consultants have really earned that term. With at least 6 years of education in psychology in addition to specific training in psychometrics, supervised experience and registration with government statutory bodies they provide expert advice to government and blue-chip clients in Singapore on a daily basis. Please consider seriously which distributor to trust and which test to trust when choosing psychometric tests in Singapore.
Free Webinar – Identity Self-Perception Questionnaire
Identity Psychometric Personality Questionnaire Webinar
Attendees will be introduced to this personality assessment which produces the most comprehensive assessment of personality on the market. Key decision-makers will also have an opportunity to trial Identity.
-Overview of the Identity Self Perception Questionnaire
-Scales of Identity
-Derived Psychological Models
-Identity Reports
-Identity Online
-Benefits of Identity
-Applications of Identity
-Comparison with other leading questionnaires
-Identity Accreditation
Psychometric Tests in Singapore
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
