Issues in Personality Assessment

Question 1

Define reliability and name three ways to estimate it.

Answer 1

Reliability is the degree to which a measure represents the true level of the trait being measured. It can be estimated through test-retest reliability, internal consistency reliability, and inter-rater reliability.

Question 2

What are the three standards used to evaluate personality measures?

Answer 2

The three standards are reliability, validity, and generalizability.

Question 3

What is the purpose of the forced-choice questionnaire format?

Answer 3

The forced-choice format aims to reduce socially desirable responding by making participants choose between statements that are equally socially desirable.

Question 4

List and briefly define the five types of validity.

Answer 4

o Face Validity: The test appears to measure what it claims to measure.
o Predictive Validity: The test predicts criteria external to the test.
o Convergent Validity: The test correlates with other measures it should correlate with.
o Discriminant Validity: The test does not correlate with measures it should not correlate with.
o Construct Validity: The test measures what it claims, correlates with related constructs, and does not correlate with unrelated constructs.

Question 5

What is generalizability in the context of personality measures?

Answer 5

Generalizability is the degree to which a measure retains its validity across different persons, situations, cultures, and times.