Editing Personality test (section)

===Test development===
A substantial amount of research and thinking has gone into the topic of personality test development. Development of personality tests tends to be an iterative process whereby a test is progressively refined. Test development can proceed on theoretical or statistical grounds. There are three commonly used general strategies: Inductive, Deductive, and Empirical.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Burisch|first=Matthias|title=Approaches to personality inventory construction: A comparison of merits|journal=American Psychologist|date=March 1984|volume=39|issue=3|pages=214–227|doi=10.1037/0003-066X.39.3.214}}</ref> Scales created today will often incorporate elements of all three methods.

Deductive assessment construction begins by selecting a domain or construct to measure.<ref name="Burisch, M. 1984">{{cite journal | last1 = Burisch | first1 = M | year = 1984 | title = Approaches to personality inventory construction: A comparison of merits | journal = American Psychologist | volume = 39 | issue = 3| pages = 214–227 | doi=10.1037/0003-066x.39.3.214}}</ref> The construct is thoroughly defined by experts and items are created which fully represent all the attributes of the construct definition.<ref name="Burisch, M. 1984"/> Test items are then selected or eliminated based upon which will result in the strongest internal validity for the scale. Measures created through deductive methodology are equally valid and take significantly less time to construct compared to inductive and empirical measures. The clearly defined and face valid questions that result from this process make them easy for the person taking the assessment to understand. Although subtle items can be created through the deductive process,<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Jackson | first1 = D. N. | year = 1971 | title = The dynamics of structured personality tests: 1971 | journal = Psychological Review | volume = 78 | issue = 3| pages = 229–248 | doi=10.1037/h0030852}}</ref> these measure often are not as capable of detecting lying as other methods of personality assessment construction.<ref name="Burisch, M. 1984"/>

Inductive assessment construction begins with the creation of a multitude of diverse items. The items created for an inductive measure to not intended to represent any theory or construct in particular. Once the items have been created they are administered to a large group of participants. This allows researchers to analyze natural relationships among the questions and label components of the scale based upon how the questions group together. Several statistical techniques can be used to determine the constructs assessed by the measure. Exploratory Factor Analysis and Confirmatory Factor Analysis are two of the most common data reduction techniques that allow researchers to create scales from responses on the initial items.{{citation needed|date=April 2015}}

The [[Five Factor Model]] of personality was developed using this method.<ref>{{cite journal|last=McCrae|first=Robert|author2=Oliver John|title=An Introduction to the Five-Factor Model and Its Applications|journal=Journal of Personality|year=1992|volume=60|issue=2|pages=175–215|doi=10.1111/j.1467-6494.1992.tb00970.x|pmid=1635039|citeseerx=10.1.1.470.4858|s2cid=10596836 }}</ref> Advanced statistical methods include the opportunity to discover previously unidentified or unexpected relationships between items or constructs. It also may allow for the development of subtle items that prevent test takers from knowing what is being measured and may represent the actual structure of a construct better than a pre-developed theory.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Smith|first=Greggory|author2=Sarah Fischer |author3=Suzannah Fister |title=Incremental Validity Principles in Test Construction|journal=Psychological Assessment|date=December 2003|volume=15|issue=4|pages=467–477|doi=10.1037/1040-3590.15.4.467|pmid=14692843}}</ref> Criticisms include a vulnerability to finding item relationships that do not apply to a broader population, difficulty identifying what may be measured in each component because of confusing item relationships, or constructs that were not fully addressed by the originally created questions.<ref>{{cite book|last=Ryan Joseph|title=Understanding Psychological Assessment: Perspective on Individual Differences|year=2001|publisher=Springer|pages=1–15|edition=1|author-link=Understanding Test Construction|author2=Shane Lopez |author3=Scott Sumerall |editor=William Dorfman, Michel Hersen}}</ref>

Empirically derived personality assessments require statistical techniques. One of the central goals of empirical personality assessment is to create a test that validly discriminates between two distinct dimensions of personality. Empirical tests can take a great deal of time to construct. In order to ensure that the test is measuring what it is purported to measure, psychologists first collect data through self- or observer reports, ideally from a large number of participants.
{{Further|topic=the matched series of timed cognitive aptitude tests|Morrisby Profile}}