Psychometric comparison of paper-and-pencil and online personality assessments in a selection setting

• Main Authors: Joubert, Tina, Kriek, Hendrik J.
• Language: en
• Published: OpenJournals Publishing 2010
• Subjects: Online assessment; Personality questionnaire; Equivalence; Occupational personality questionnaire
• Online Access: Kriek, Hendrik J. (2009) Psychometric comparison of paper-and-pencil and online personality assessments in a selection setting, University of South Africa, Pretoria, <http://hdl.handle.net/10500/3910>; http://hdl.handle.net/10500/3910

The goal of the study was to determine whether the Occupational Personality Questionnaire (OPQ32i) yielded comparable results when two different modes of administration, namely paperand- pencil and Internet-based administration, were used in real-life, high-stakes selection settings. Two studies were conducted in which scores obtained online in unproctored settings were compared with scores obtained during proctored paper-and-pencil settings. The psychometric properties of the paper-and-pencil and Internet-based applications were strikingly similar. Structural equation modelling with EQS indicated substantial support for the hypothesis that covariance matrices of the paper-and-pencil and online applications in both studies were identical. It was concluded that relationships between the OPQ32i scales were not affected by mode of administration or supervision.