Psychometric Assessment

What does Psychometric mean? 
It is the science of psychological measurement and aims at measuring psychological attributes. Psychometrics is the study of educational and psychological measurements. The adjective "psychometric" is used to describe psychological tests (typically those used in educational and occupational settings) that are standardized as well as proven to be reliable and valid measures of areas like personality, ability, aptitude, and interest.

What Are Psychometric Tests?
Psychometric tests include personality profiles, reasoning tests, motivation questionnaires, and ability assessments. These tests try to provide objective data for otherwise subjective measurements.

For example, if you want to determine someone's attitude, you can ask the person directly, observe the person in action, or even gather observations about the person from other people. However, all of these methods can be affected by personal bias and perspective. By using a psychometric test, you make a more objective and impartial judgment.

Since objectivity is the key to using these assessments, a good psychometric test provides fair and accurate results each time it's given. To ensure this, the test must meet these three key criteria:

1. Standardization - “ The test must be based on results from a sample population that's truly representative of the people who'll be taking the test. You can't realistically test every working person in a country. But you can test a representative sample of that group, and then apply the results to the specific people whom you test.
Also, a standardized test is administered the same way every time to help reduce any test bias. By using a standardized test, you can compare the results with anyone whose characteristics are similar to those of the sample group.
2. Reliability - The test must produce consistent results, and not be significantly influenced by outside factors. For instance, if you're feeling stressed when you take the test, the test results shouldn't be overly different from times when you were excited or relaxed.
3. Validity - This is perhaps the most important quality of a test. A valid test has to measure what it's intended to measure. If a test is supposed to measure a person's interests, then it must clearly demonstrate that it does actually measure interests, and not something else that's just related to interests.

What Do Psychometric Tests Measure?
Psychometric tests can measure interests, personality, and aptitude.

Interest tests measure how people differ in their motivation, values, and opinions in relation to their interests.

Personality tests measure how people differ in their style or manner of doing things, and in the way they interact with their environment and other people.

Aptitude tests measure how people differ in their ability to perform or carry out different tasks.
Advantages of Psychometric Tests

Psychometric tests can help to make personnel and career-related assessments more objective.

These tests also save a great deal of time. They're typically very easy to administer, and they can be given to a group of people easily. (Some other types of assessments must be given individually.) Psychometric tests are also easily scored, so results come back quickly and reliably.

Many of these tests are completed using software programs, and some can even be completed online. This, again, provides a time advantage, and it can reduce costs significantly compared to other methods. People can take the tests from anywhere, and the results are accurately scored each time. Psychometric tests can be used for a variety of purposes. 


Note:
Remember to keep psychometric testing in perspective. These tests are only one of many different types of assessments that you can use in recruitment and career development.

Key Points
Assessing and appraising people are a highly complex and subjective process, and psychometric tests are a good way of objectively assessing people's "hidden" traits.
From recruitment to long-term career development, these tests provide a great deal of reliable information to make important personnel decisions. 

INDIVIDUAL/SCHOOL
Aptitude Tests
These tests can be used to measure a person's ability or knowledge level in a certain field, but are most commonly used to get a feel for a candidate's general level of intelligence and ability. Depending on what type of aptitude test is being administered the format may vary.

Intelligence Testing 
Intelligence refers to intellectual functioning. Intelligence quotients, or IQ tests, compare your performance with other people your age who take the same test. These tests don't measure all kinds of intelligence, however. For example, such tests can't identify differences in social intelligence, the expertise people bring to their interactions with others. There are also generational differences in the population as a whole. Better nutrition, more education and other factors have resulted in IQ improvements for each generation.

Verbal Reasoning / Verbal Comprehension
Measures the subject's ability to comprehend verbal description or arguments in order to understand their meaning and draw conclusions. The format of a verbal reasoning tests involve reading a passage, and then answering a series of questions with True, False, or Cannot Say. A verbal comprehension test focuses more on spelling, grammar, and syntax.

Numerical Reasoning
Measures the subject's ability to analyze and comprehend numerical data and perform calculations where appropriate. Topics covered include ratios, percentages, trends, and currency conversions. The test format is multiple-choice.

Inductive / Abstract Reasoning
Measures the subject's ability to comprehend and work with unfamiliar information to find solutions to problems, with the aim of discovering how well the subject can think analytically and conceptually. The test format involves looking at a sequence of symbols, and determining how to complete the sequence.

Personality Questionnaire
A questionnaire designed to understand how the subject prefers to work, and how well they will fit within a particular work environment or team. The test format includes a series of statements that asks the subject to agree or disagree, as well as to choose which statements most and least describe the subject.
 
Motivation Questionnaire
A questionnaire designed to understand what motivates a subject, in order to improve working conditions and increase employee satisfaction and retention. The test format includes a series of statements and asks the subject to rate whether each situation would increase or decrease motivation.
 
Accuracy (or Checking) Test
Measures the subject's ability to find errors within a group of information, quickly and accurately. The test format may include a series of numbers where the subject has to quickly ascertain whether they are the same or different. This test has a strict time limit, the goal being for the subject to answer as many questions correctly before time runs out.
 
Knowledge Tests
Measures the subject's proficiency in a certain field or area. These tests are specifically designed for a particular field, such as engineering or information technology. Normally multiple choice, the test format may vary depending on the field being tested and may include logical reasoning, numerical reasoning, or other types of questions. The format is often multiple choices.

Rorschach test and other Projective Tools
Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)
Achievement Tests
As per requirement combinations of different assessment tools can be used.
College
Aptitude Tests
These tests can be used to measure a person's ability or knowledge level in a certain field, but are most commonly used to get a feel for a candidate's general level of intelligence and ability. Depending on what type of aptitude test is being administered the format may vary.

Verbal Reasoning / Verbal Comprehension
Measures the subject's ability to comprehend verbal description or arguments in order to understand their meaning and draw conclusions. The format of a verbal reasoning tests involve reading a passage, and then answering a series of questions with True, False, or Cannot Say. A verbal comprehension test focuses more on spelling, grammar, and syntax.

Numerical Reasoning
Measures the subject's ability to analyze and comprehend numerical data and perform calculations where appropriate. Topics covered include ratios, percentages, trends, and currency conversions. The test format is multiple-choice.

Inductive / Abstract Reasoning
Measures the subject's ability to comprehend and work with unfamiliar information to find solutions to problems, with the aim of discovering how well the subject can think analytically and conceptually. The test format involves looking at a sequence of symbols, and determining how to complete the sequence.

Personality Questionnaire
A questionnaire designed to understand how the subject prefers to work, and how well they will fit within a particular work environment or team. The test format includes a series of statements that asks the subject to agree or disagree, as well as to choose which statements most and least describe the subject.
 
Motivation Questionnaire
A questionnaire designed to understand what motivates a subject, in order to improve working conditions and increase employee satisfaction and retention. The test format includes a series of statements and asks the subject to rate whether each situation would increase or decrease motivation.

 
Corporate
Psychometric tests can be designed to measure a single factor (i.e. aptitude) or a variety of factors (i.e. skill level, motivation, etc.). These are some of the most common psychometric tests that are administered:
Selection of personnel. Here, tests can help recruiters and hiring managers determine candidates who best fit a position. Personality, aptitude, and knowledge tests are all very common in this type of testing situation. 

Individual development and training  Psychometric tests can help you determine how best to improve current skills and performance. For example, if your department is going to introduce a new type of technology, it might be helpful to assess people on their interests and motivations related to new technology. The Business Attitude Inventory and the California Measure of Mental Motivation are psychometric tests available for training and development purposes. You could also use aptitude and skills tests to determine a person's ability to perform certain tasks.

Team building and development This area can provide many uses for psychometric tests. The better people understand themselves and others, the better they can build and maintain positive workplace relationships. Tests like the Hogan Development Survey are designed specifically to uncover potential sources of relationship tension. General personality assessments, including the Myers-Briggs Typology Indicator (MBTI) and the California Psychological Inventory (CPI), are also very helpful for team building and strengthening. Values in Action can help you gain insights into group behaviors and dynamics that relate to people's values.

 
IQ Test / Stanford-Binet 5: A test to measure a subject's intelligence and aptitude, which may be used to predict potential educational or ascertain the need for additional education assistance. The IQ contains questions pertaining to logic and verbal ability in order to ascertain the subject's mental age. The average IQ score is 100.
 
Big Five Profile: Measure a subject's core five personality traits, as based on the Big Five personality model. The test consists of a series of statements, to which the subject answers how much they agree or disagree with each (from 1-4). The test is designed to measure the following traits: Openness, Conscientiousness, Extroversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism.
 
Occupational Interest Inventory: Assesses the subject's motivations and aptitudes. This test is commonly used by career centres, human resources professionals, and educational institutions to ensure employees / students are match well to their chosen field. 
 
Management Style Inventory: Used to determine a person's management style, strengths, and areas where improvement could be gained. The test is aimed at placing the subject into one of seven management categories (manager, entrepreneur, motivator, strategist, chief executive, expert, project manager) and consists of a series of questions with two possible choices for answers in order to classify the response.
 
Myers-Briggs Personality Indicator / Jung Typology Test: One of the first accurate and reliable personality questionnaires, this test is commonly used to get a broad overview of a person's personality traits based on four dichotomies: Extraversion/Introversion, Sensing/Intuition, Thinking/Feeling, and Judging/Perceiving. The test format includes a series of statements where the subject chooses to agree or disagree.
 
Reasoning Test: A measure of specific skills, rather than a measure of general IQ. These tests includes a variety of multiple-choice questions that measure logical ability, numerical ability, and verbal ability.
 
Emotional Intelligence Test: Similar to an IQ Test, but this type of test measures a person's ability to understand emotions (their own and others as well as their ability to establish and maintain healthy relationships. The test looks for strengths and weaknesses in areas such as intrapersonal intelligence, flexibility, relationship management, and self-assertion.