Psychological assessment and psychometrics
Justify what a psychological score means
Psychological assessment uses tests, tasks and structured evidence to support interpretations about psychological attributes. Psychometrics evaluates the measurement model, score precision, validity evidence and comparability across people or occasions. This entry concerns choosing and interpreting assessments, distinct from constructing a new scale. Norms and decision thresholds require populations and purposes for which they are defensible.
Use when psychological attributes must be measured or compared for research or assessment. Start with the intended interpretation and population, then evaluate available instruments, permissions, fairness and evidence supporting that use.
Strengths
- Links scores to explicit measurement assumptions
- Can evaluate precision and comparability across populations
Limitations
- A familiar test may be invalid for a new purpose
- Norms and thresholds can be culturally or temporally limited
Know the boundary
A high reliability coefficient does not establish validity, fairness or an appropriate individual diagnosis.