Dear Helena,
Thanks for sharing, I can use this too! I find the psychometrics and
attitude/personality scores get a bad rap because they are used for areas
they were never intended to measure but they can be great indicators given
the appropriate climate. The one I would live to axe is MMPI as it is used
wrongly in litigation and causes real damage. I use social inventories along
with cognitive testing and find this combination helpful in individualising
cognitive training protocols.

Best,
Amy 

-----Original Message-----
From: Evidence based health (EBH)
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Vonville, Helena
M
Sent: 17 November 2011 11:00 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Psychometric Testing?

I would also recommend looking at the literature, in particular Mental
Measurements Yearbook, PsycINFO, and HAPI.

I have a search filter I developed for Ovid PsycINFO that looks for
psychometric articles.  It's very broad, not tested, but then I used to work
in a psychology library and searched the db for probably 5-6 hours a day.  I
developed this short cut to save me time.

You can find the filter at:

http://www.sph.uth.tmc.edu/current-students/library/internet-resources/searc
h-filters/#psycinfo

Copy the filter and paste into the search text box, then add your terms to
the filter.  Ask a librarian if you need help- may save you a bunch of time.

Again, this is for the Ovid PsycINFO database. It won't work on other
interfaces or with other databases.

Helena


Helena M. VonVille, MLS, MPH
Library Director
University of Texas School of Public Health
Houston, TX
[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
713-500-9131
713-500-9125 (fax)
________________________________________
From: Evidence based health (EBH) [[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of William Grant [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Thursday, November 17, 2011 10:38 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Psychometric Testing?

WOAH! YIKES!

Dear Ms. Kirkpatrick:

May we get back to the issue at hand?

Your skepticism regarding the field of psychometric assessment has some
basis in truth. To develop an instrument with on-going utility is not an
easy task.  There are many 'assessments' out in the market place with
questionable credentials.  However, this is not to say that development of
an acceptable instrument cannot be done.

In the world of psychometric assessment there are different types of
reliability (internal, external, repeated, etc.) and of validity (construct,
external, etc.) so it is important to know which of these is most important
to the task at hand. All of them require different but possibly overlapping
data sets.

There are different types of assessments including measurement of
personality traits, knowledge, skill, abilities, attitudes, educational
achievement, etc.  Each requires specific approaches and not all always lend
themselves to simple paper-pencil modalities. Some employ psychomotor
skills, some use interviewing strategies, some use combinations of data
gathering modalities.

Development of a psychometric assessment also depends on its purpose.  As in
the field of medicine, is the purpose you are seeking, diagnostic,
therapeutic, prognostic, descriptive, or what?  Again, approaches to
development will differ.

Good instrument development will also require multiple iterations of
assessment with samples from the intended target population and of experts
in the field.

You may wish to consider partnering with someone who has experience in
development of these assessments to help you frame your intent, your
questions and to help you articulate an instrument development strategy.

Bill

William D. Grant, EdD
Associate Dean, Graduate Medical Education
Professor, Emergency Medicine
Professor, Family Medicine
SUNY Upstate Medical University
750 E. Adams St.  EmStat
Syracuse, NY 13210
315-464-4861 (p)    315-464-4854 (f)

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>>> jo kirkpatrick <[log in to unmask]> 11/17/2011 8:51 AM >>>
Hi Robin or should I say Totally Ruthless Robin

I was accepting your agreement with the tests appraisal of your temperament
after all you know yourself better than I do but then I noticed that you
work for the NHS. This seems incongruous with somebody who is totally
ruthless in pursuing their own interests! Wouldn't you have found the
private sector a better return for your time? Of course it depends on
exactly what they meant by 'ruthless in pursuing' and whether they meant
personal interests, goals or ambitions. It also depends on what your own
interests are; eg winning a Nobel Prize; building a Rupert Murdock style
financial empire; or getting first prize for your gooseberry jam could all
be pursued with equal determination.

When I hear the expression totally ruthless I don't associate it with
someone who works for the NHS. I believe the tester might have been
confusing ruthlessness with self-discipline or even conscientiousness.
Medical science is producing evidence that many successful people have a
large measure of obsessive compulsiveness and high conscientiousness, which
is at the neurotic end of the personality continuum. In any case people are
not chess pieces all black or all white so I question the use of 'totally'
in assessments, the tester is attempting to create a sense of certainty that
doesn't exist.

BW Jo

________________________________
From: Harbour Robin (HEALTHCARE IMPROVEMENT SCOTLAND)
<[log in to unmask]>
To: jo kirkpatrick <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, 17 November 2011, 11:26
Subject: RE: Psychometric Testing?

Hi Jo -

I can only provide some anecdotal evidence from personal experience of
having been on the receiving end of these tests during interviews. In the
first case, the feedback I got was that I appeared to be uncertain whether I
was really interested in the job. That was exactly right!

The second occasion was some years later after I had been made redundant and
was rather reluctantly self-employed while trying to get back into
employment. On that occasion I was told that the most striking finding was
that I was totally ruthless in pursuing my own interests! I was a bit taken
aback at that, but given the circumstances it was probably true. I didn't
get either job, you won't be surprised to learn. I did not consciously
change my behaviour following the first one, though I did try to tone down
the ruthlessness following the second one - and some time later got what
turned out to be the best job I have had in my life.

Despite this experience, I remain a bit sceptical about the accuracy of
these tests and suspect a lot depends on the training and skills of the
person applying the test. Anyway, you now need two fewer examples to get a
sample big enough to draw conclusions!

Yours,

Robin

Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network
Delta House | 50 West Nile Street | Glasgow G1 2NP

t: 0141 227 3298
e: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>

www.sign.ac.uk<http://www.sign.ac.uk/>

The Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network is part of Healthcare
Improvement Scotland.



From: Evidence based health (EBH)
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of jo kirkpatrick
Sent: 17 November 2011 11:16
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Psychometric Testing?

Hi EBH

I am currently wading through the books on Psychometric tests, for the
quantitative part of my study on why people take drugs and how this affects
the working self and identity. I know we only have 44 chromosomes to create
billions of unique individuals so mathmatically [in theory] 11 to 16 factors
should be enough to deal with personality and cognitive abilities but I have
to wonder how reliable and accurate Psychometric tests be? I know there is
evidence that supports them, but I am highly suspicious of its validity. I
know company HR managers can see the outcome in employees; but has anybody
checked up on the outcome for the rejects, [perhaps 5 or 10 yrs later] to
see whether their rejection was justified and from an ethical stance what
impact the rejection had on their lives?

Best wishes Jo

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