Within psychology, one of the most useful tools at the research level is psychometrics; This science has made it possible to collect and organize data in such a way that it has offered the possibility of quantitatively measuring information on qualitative aspects.
Psychometrics has great weight in the evaluation and measurement of the phenomena that occur in the social sciences and education. Thanks to this science, it has been possible to obtain reliable data that allows us to understand, predict and even address different problems.
In recent times, psychometrics has experienced significant advances that are related to the way in which the concepts that comprise it are understood, as pointed out, thus being one of the most important areas of training for any psychologist.
The concept of psychometrics
Psychometrics refers to a scientific discipline that corresponds to psychology, and which is responsible for carrying out all the measurement processes that concern the information collected through the scientific method of research.
This science is not only limited to the collection of information, but also allows us to design psychological tests that can later be constructed. Thanks to your input, these tests can be adjusted and improved so that they can be reliable and trustworthy.
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Being able to have numerical data that provides knowledge about personality traits and other aspects related to the psyche, both human and animal, allows us to better understand these phenomena in addition to providing a predictive nature.
Psychometrics is not only about putting the information obtained into numbers, it also addresses the ethics of the application of said information.
What is psychometrics responsible for?
The reason for psychometrics is the description and measurement of the variables that are related to the cognitive, psychobiological, emotional, behavioral processes and personality traits of individuals. This allows us to observe and measure the information obtained to determine the interventions in each case.
Another of the strong points of psychometrics is the ability to design and create measurement instruments, following standardized parameters that allow obtaining reliable and valid results. In addition, it allows adjustments to be made to these instruments, based on the deductions obtained from their application.
Through psychometrics, quantitative reports can be prepared that allow us to have a better vision of psychological phenomena. It is, therefore, one of the most valuable tools available for study and research in the field of psychology.
Validity and reliability
When researching psychometrics, two terms that immediately appear are reliability and validity, two essential aspects so that any instrument can be taken into account by psychology professionals when making measurements.
- The confiability It refers to the ability of the test to yield similar results when it is applied several times to the same subject. To be reliable, the test must present similar results without large variations. Regarding reliability, it is important to take into account the length of the test applied; the longer the length, the reliability may be affected.
- The validity It is the ability of the test to measure what the researcher is looking for. For this, it is used as a variable in previous research and a new instrument is developed that is contrasted with the opinion of experts. Afterwards, a selection is made of those items that have been shown to collect the information required for the ongoing research.
How is data processed in psychometrics?
Once psychometric tests are applied, it is important to know how the data obtained is collected, processed and analyzed. The first thing is to understand what are the techniques through which data collection is carried out and these are:
- Direct observation.
- Questionnaires.
- Interviews.
- Surveys.
- Content or documentary analysis.
With respect to data analysis, all the information obtained through prior collection must be subjected to operations and classifications in order to reach conclusions that are precise and that offer more resources to the investigation.
Conclusion
Psychometrics is and will continue to be one of the most valuable resources for research within the field of behavioral study, and it is precisely for this reason that it is of great importance that professionals dedicated to mental health have good training. in this area.
This should not be limited only to professionals who wish to dedicate themselves to the research field. Psychometrics is essential when carrying out any work that allows obtaining data about people to better understand them from their psychological and emotional qualities.
The study of psychometrics goes far beyond the evaluation of intelligence (this being the most common item studied), since it is also responsible for evaluating other psychic and even behavioral, cognitive and emotional instances.
Currently, technological advances have allowed the development of more and better resources that facilitate the work of psychometrics, through the creation of programs and/or applications capable of generating reliable and valid data for the creation of evaluation instruments of various types. areas.
And finally, I would like to say that for a long time, this branch of knowledge has been a somewhat marginalized area for many people, but that, for any rigorous researcher, it is an important discipline to know, understand and handle perfectly.
Bibliographic reference: Gómez-Benito, J., & Hidalgo-Montesinos, MD (2003). Recent developments in psychometrics. Advances in Measurement, 1(1), 17-36.