In education, ipsative assessment is the practice of assessing present performance against the prior performance of the person being assessed. One place where this might be implemented is in reference to tests used with K-12 students in the United States, where value-added modeling of teacher performance is currently popular. Ipsative assessment can be contrasted with criterion-referenced assessment and norm-referenced assessment. Ipsative assessment is used in everyday life, and features heavily in physical education and also in computer games.
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Norm-referenced assessment can be contrasted with criterion-referenced assessment and ipsative assessment. In a criterion-referenced assessment, the score shows whether or not test takers performed well or poorly on a given task, not how that compares to other test takers; in an ipsative system, test takers are compared to previous performance. The same test can be used in both ways.Cronbach, L. J. (1970).
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'Spuriouser and spuriouser: The use of ipsative personality tests.' Journal of Occupational Psychology 61 (June): 153–162.Blinkhorn, S., and C. Johnson. 1990. 'The insignificance of personality testing' Nature 348: 671–672.
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As alternatives to normative testing, tests can be ipsative assessments or criterion-referenced assessments. In an ipsative assessment, the individuals' performance is compared only to their previous performances.Assessment For example, a person on a weight-loss diet is judged by how his current weight compares to his own previous weight, rather than how his weight compares to an ideal or how it compares to another person. A test is criterion-referenced when the performance is judged according to the expected or desired behavior.
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Swailes and McIntyre-Bhatty also argued (2001 & 2002) that traditional attempts to measure reliability have been misapplied when it comes to the Belbin Team Role Inventory because it is neither ipsative nor non-ipsative, and an equation that took this anomaly into account gave higher estimates of reliability and validity.Swailes, S. & McIntyre-Bhatty, T. (2001). "Uses and Abuses of Reliability Estimates: The Case of the 'Belbin' TRSPI". Working Paper presented to the British Academy of Management Conference, Cardiff Business School.
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While mean scores from Likert-type scales can be compared across individuals, scores from an ipsative measure cannot. To explain, if an individual was equally Extroverted and Conscientious and was assessed on a Likert-type scale, each trait would be evaluated singularly, i.e. a respondent would see the item "I enjoy parties." and agree or disagree with it to whatever degree reflected his/her preferences. If the same traits were evaluated on an ipsative measure, respondents would be forced to choose between the two, i.e.
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In psychology, ipsative measures (; Latin: ipse, "of the self") are those where respondents compare two or more desirable options and pick the one they prefer most. Sometimes called a "forced choice" scale, this contrasts Likert- type scales in which respondents score, often from 1 to 5, how much they agree with a given statement (see also Norm-referenced test).
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The conventional method of scoring items is to assign '0' for an incorrect answer '1' for a correct answer. When tests have more response options (e.g. multiple choice items) '0' when incorrect, '1' for being partly correct and '2' for being correct. Personality tests can also be scored using a dimensional (normative) or a typological (ipsative) approach.
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Within each pair, the subjects choose one statement as more characteristic of themselves, reducing the social desirability factor of the test. Due to the forced choice, the EPPS is an ipsative test, the statements are made in relation to the strength of an individual's other needs. Hence, like personality, it is not absolute. Results of the test are reliable, although there are doubts about the consistency scale.
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A criterion-referenced test is a style of test which uses test scores to generate a statement about the behavior that can be expected of a person with that score. Most tests and quizzes that are written by school teachers can be considered criterion-referenced tests. In this case, the objective is simply to see whether the student has learned the material. Criterion-referenced assessment can be contrasted with norm-referenced assessment and ipsative assessment.
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Nomothetic literally means "proposition of the law" (Greek derivation) and is used in philosophy (see also Nomothetic and idiographic), psychology, and law with differing meanings. In psychology, nomothetic measures are contrasted to ipsative or idiothetic measures, where nomothetic measures are measures that are observed on a relatively large sample and have a more general outlook while the idiographic approach is relating to a more singular case as is done in case studies.
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The WISC is used not only as an intelligence test, but as a clinical tool. Some practitioners use the WISC as part of an assessment to diagnose attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and learning disabilities, for example. This is usually done through a process called pattern analysis, in which the various subtests' scores are compared to one another (ipsative scoring) and clusters of unusually low scores in relation to the others are searched for. David Wechsler himself suggested this in 1958.
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A study by American Management Association reveals that 39 percent of companies surveyed use personality testing as part of their hiring process. However, ipsative personality tests are often misused in recruitment and selection, where they are mistakenly treated as if they were normative measures. More people are using personality testing to evaluate their business partners, their dates and their spouses. Salespeople are using personality testing to better understand the needs of their customers and to gain a competitive edge in the closing of deals.
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