Chartered Industrial Psychologists

Psychometric Assessments

What types of tests and assessments are there?

What makes a psychometric test different?

A psychometric test or a psychological assessment is essentially an objective and standardised measure of a sample of behaviour. This psychometric test sample can then be used to predict a broad and significant area of behaviour.

There are two things all psychometric tests and psychological assessments have in common. These are Standardisation and Objective Measurement.

Standardisation

Both uniformity and the use of comparison groups (norms) is involved in test standardisation:

Uniformity

This means there is uniformity (or standardisation) of the testing procedure in its administration, marking and interpretation.

The test is marked in a standardised way – each person is compared to the same scoring key and marking guidelines. The interpretation is standardised for the same scores on assessments.

Norms

The use of norms is another aspect of standardisation. The number correct on an ability test is meaningless unless we know how it compares to others who take the test. We need to know what is “normal” or the average performance on the test, and this is where norms come in. Comparing scores to norms allows us to standardise the interpretation to how a person’s result compare to an appropriate norm group’s Read more about Niche's norms .

Objective Measurement

Psychometric tests are objective in that they should be independent of subjective judgement of the administrator or interpreter of the data.

This means that theoretically any one individual should obtain the identical score on a test, regardless of who administers, marks, and interprets the results.
As humans we all have biases, likes and dislikes, which can affect how objective we can be in most situations.
However, psychometric tests endeavour to reduce the subjectivity and bias, by adhering to standard interpretations of scores which are objectively measured.
Robust Psychometric assessments also have gone through significant scientific research and need to meet the reliability and validity standards of test construction.

We provide psychometric tests as a service to our clients but we are not a test supplier or distributor. We do not sell tests directly as such, but provide a full service of administration, scoring and reporting of psychological tests and assessments.

What can psychometric assessments be used for?

Psychometric tests can be used in organisations or by individuals for many purposes:

Improving Recruitment Processes
Enhancing fit of employees to role, team and organisation
Identifying development needs for employees
Assist in career development
Measure team types
Personal development
Build high performance models
Measure likelihood of sales success
Assess attitudes towards acting safely in the workplace

Good psychometric tests can only be used by qualified personnel with a high levels of psychological training. Well designed tests have robust validity and high reliability as well as appropriate norm groups.

There are ethical and privacy issues to consider when administering and interpreting psychometric assessments. At Niche we take this responsibility seriously and we are ethically required to look after the interests of our clients and care for candidates taking psychometric assessments. Read more about psychologists ethics .