Compare and contrast four terms: psychological assessment, psychological test, measurement, and survey.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

• Psychological assessments and psychological tests
o Assessments and tests are both evaluative methods of collecting important information about people, but they are different. ‘
o Both assessments and tests are used to help understand and predict behavior.
o Many experts view assessment as a broader concept than tests.
o Psychological assessments involve multiple methods, such as personal history interviews, behavioral observations, and psychological tests, for gathering information about an individual.
o Psychological assessment involves both an objective component and a subjective component, and psychological tests are only one tool in the assessment process.
• Psychological tests and measurements
o Although their meanings overlap, psychological test and measurement are not synonyms.
o Measurement, like assessment, is a broader concept than psychological test.
o Measurement is the process of assessing the size, the amount, or the degree of an attribute using specific rules for transforming the attribute into numbers.
o A measurement instrument is a tool or technique for assessing the size, amount, or degree of an attribute.
o Because psychological tests are tools or techniques for making inferences about human attributes, traits, or characteristics, or predicting future outcomes, we often refer to psychological tests as measurement instruments.
o Even though some differences exist, you may find people who use the terms psychological assessment, psychological test, and psychological measurement interchangeably.
• Psychological tests and surveys
o Surveys, like psychological tests (and psychological assessments), are used to collect important information from individuals. Surveys differ from psychological tests in two important ways.
o First, psychological tests focus on individual outcomes, and surveys focus on group outcomes. Psycho- logical tests provide important information about individual differences and help individuals and institutions make important decisions about individuals. Surveys, on the other hand, provide important information about groups and help us make important decisions about groups.
o Second, the results of a psychological test are often reported in terms of an overall derived score or scaled scores. Results of surveys, on the other hand, are often reported at the question level by providing the percentage of respondents who selected each answer alternative. In some cases, surveys focus on individual outcomes and are constructed using scales. In such a case, a survey approximates a psychological test.