RE: Another bogus personality test

Subject: RE: Another bogus personality test
From: "Dan Goldstein" <DGoldstein -at- riveraintech -dot- com>
To: <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Date: Mon, 22 Oct 2012 16:19:57 -0400

If a person tends to be calm and unemotional under stress, then
selecting any of the four choices below isn't "taking a side." It's just
giving a wrong answer. But I think you're suggesting that the test was
badly designed, and we certainly agree on that!


-----Original Message-----
From: Lauren
Sent: Monday, October 22, 2012 4:12 PM
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: Re: Another bogus personality test

There is absolutely no correct answer in this question and that is
exactly the way questions like this are designed. When designing polls
and questions that require subjective answers, it is best to completely
avoid the neutral middle position and to force test takers to take a
side.

Within the scope of a personality test, multiple questions are asked to
draw an accurate picture of the subject that is not neutral. An
effectively designed test with the question you provided should have two
more variations of the same question, so that there will be three
answers. If the answers conflict, then there is a problem with the
subject or the person answering the questions. If two or three answers
are consistent, then there is probability that the subject of the test
reflects the person's perception.


On 10/22/2012 5:59 AM, Dan Goldstein wrote:
> These things are such easy targets, but I'm still amazed that some
> companies actually use them. From one I received this morning:
>
> "[name] gets:
> * somewhat impatient when things move too slowly
> * very impatient when things move too slowly
> * somewhat frustrated when things move too quickly
> * very frustrated when things move too quickly"
>
> You have to choose one of the four. There's no choice for people who
> keep their cool regardless of the pace.




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Follow-Ups:

References:
Another bogus personality test: From: Dan Goldstein
Re: Another bogus personality test: From: Lauren

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