What is an online psychometric instrument?

Online psychometric instruments, sometimes called web based tests, are assessment instruments you can take on the internet. At any time candidates from anywhere in the world can complete a questionnaire or test view the instrument on their local PC. The instrument may be administered from the server that holds it question by question, in which case you must be connected to the internet at all times during the test; or, alternatively, the test / questionnaire may actually be downloaded whole onto the local PC, remaining on your PC for the duration of the assessment session, with the answers sent back to the server at intervals, or at the end of the session. Either way, your answers are stored and become available to the test provider for scoring, interpretation and reporting.

There are three suggested main conditions under which such tests and questionnaires may be taken:

• Uncontrolled and unsupervised: you register and answer the questions on the open Internet, wherever you are, at whatever time.
• Controlled but unsupervised: the user registers you and ensures your identity, but otherwise does nothing to fix the timing or to supervise the environment of the testing session.
• Controlled and supervised: a qualified person logs you in and ensures that timing and other requirements are met. This will usually take place at a company's offices or a dedicated centre.

Why are online psychometric instruments used?

Online instruments have a variety of advantages for both you and the person administering them. Multimedia design can make instruments more natural and realistic, ensuring that they more closely resemble everyday working practices. They are also more flexible in terms of timing and location. Online instruments provide much faster results to organisations than traditional pencil and paper based tests. Both you and the organisation get feedback more quickly.

Is there any human interaction when taking such instruments online?

Supervision is sometimes needed at test sessions ( see above ). Also, while online or computerised tests and questionnaires are normally automatically scored, there is usually human involvement in the interpretation of these scores and this should also occur at the feedback stage of the testing process.

If I practice at tests will I improve?

This issue only arises with maximum performance measures where there are right and wrong answers. For such instruments it is possible to prepare or revise. Some tests are partly dependent on knowledge and so preparation can be similar to the way you might prepare for an exam. However, many tests are designed to assess skills that cannot be so easily learnt or rehearsed. In these cases, practice will make you more confident and familiar with the materials that you may be presented with, ensuring you perform at your optimum level.

Is it worth trying to cheat ?

Well-designed psychometric instruments which focus on typical performance and measure a person's style, behaviour and motivation, frequently include checks for a number of possible distortions including guessing, random answering, or trying to second guess what the administrator wants. For example, within a typical performance questionnaire, questions may be subtly repeated or rephrased to see if the responses are consistent.

In terms of maximum performance tests, candidates are occasionally tempted to get a colleague or friend to fill in the answers for them. However, most organisations will measure abilities more than once during a selection process, and have various checks and balances built in to ensure that they have thoroughly verified a candidate’s ability to perform.

If, however, someone were to succeed in obtaining a job by falsifying or distorting their test answers, there are personal risks attached, beyond the possibility of the organisation finding out at a later date and dismissing him or her. It is very possible that the person would be unsuited to that job, due to its being outside their capabilities, or a role for which they were temperamentally unsuited. In this case, in this case, the person may find him or herself out of depth, incompetent and / or unhappy in the role.

Are there any differences between online and offline results ?

A number of research studies indicate that if an online psychometric instrument has been designed properly, to the same high standards as one would expect for an offline psychometric instrument, then the results are comparable.