Explain main criteria to standardize measures of personality.

Explain main criteria to standardize measures of personality. (5)

The assessment of personality is a major area of application of psychology to real-world concerns. Assessment techniques must meet four technical criteria to standardize measures of personality ---

(i) Standardisation : - standardisation is a key concept in the measurement obpersonality. Standardisation implies uniformity of procedures in administering and scoring the test. If different person's personality test scores are to be comparable, the comditions for the test must be same for all. For instance, in self report scale, the examiner must make every effort to ensure that subjects read and understand the printed instructions, response to the same questions, and stay within any stated time limits.

(ii) Norms : - Norms are another key concept in the measurement of personality dimensions. The standardisation of personality assessment test includes information concerning whether a particular raw score ranks low, high, or average relative to other raw scores on the test. Such informations are called test norms. It provides standards with which the scores of various individuals who takes the test later can be compared.

(iii) Reliability : - Reliability refers to the consistency or stability of an assessment technique when given to the same group of people on two different occations. There are different types of reliabilities, vis. (a)split-half reliability, (b) test-retest reliability, (c) parallel-forms reliability, and (d) inter-scorer reliability.

(iv) Validity : - There are three types of validity in measurement of personality, viz. (a) criterion related validity, (b) content related validity, and (c) construct related validity.

(a) For criteria related validity, personality assessment is commonly undertaken for the purpose of making predictions about specific aspects of an individual's behaviour.

(b) To be content valid, an assessment tool must include those items whose contents are representative of the entire domain or dimensions it is supposed to measure.

(c) The concept of construct validity addresses the question of how well a test measures something that, in reality, is but a useful abstract invention.

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