Self Report Measure Construction

Conscientiousness is a personality trait of being extra cautious, careful and vigilant in the daily chores and activities of an individual. It involves an urge to do assigned tasks efficiently and in an organized way seriously taking obligations to other people ( Gronlund, 2014) . Tests are used to evaluate the performance of an individual in a certain field or education level. 

Several steps need to be undertaken so as to develop a content valid test. These steps include role delineation, development of test blueprints, item development and validation, test assembly, examination review revision and publication, the passing point, test administration, scoring and equation,and psychometric analysis. 

Researchers have had trouble for a very long time in determining the actual score when measuring the certain construct of the individuals i.e. intelligence, depression, self-esteem,and the working memory. In an evaluation of a measurement method, most researchers and the psychologist have consistently used the two general dimension including reliability testing and validity testing ( Chernik et Al., 2012) . 

Reliability coefficient is a scale used to measure the reliability of a test. A test should be engineered in such a way that the products should be consistently reproducible and stable. There are types of tests used to test for the reliability of a process. The first one is a test-retest reliability. In this test same test is administered to a group of individuals at different points in time ( Chernik et Al., 2012) . The results are then checked to see if there are any much alteration between the two groups. The second form is the parallel form reliability test. In this form, a single group of individuals will be administered with two different version of assessment tool containing similar construct, base, knowledge, and skills to the first assessment tool. The scoring from the two assessments will be compared so as to evaluate the consistency and reliability of the assessment tool. 

The third form of test that may be used is the inter-rater reliability. This form of test will employ two or more different competent judges to evaluate an individual or a group of individuals. This is more reliable since the human interpretation of different material or responses regarding knowledge and skills under examination won’t be consistent( Chernik et Al., 2012) . The ratings from each of the judges are compared to determine the reliability of the process. The fourth form is the internal consistency reliability. This probe is further subdivided into two types. These are split half reliability and average inter-item correlation. In the split-half reliability test, the items that are intended to ask the same area of knowledge or skills are split into halves and the whole test is administered to the two groups of individuals. The results are then compared to check for the consistency and stability of the test. For instance, Rosenberg self-esteem test requires that all people who claim to have high self -esteem should proceed to mention the numerous good qualities they possess( Gronlund, 2014) . The other form takes all items used to probe the same skills, knowledge or materials. The correlation coefficient of each item will then be sought and an average of all the coefficient is calculated to determine its reliability. 

Another tool used to measure a test is the validity. By definition, this means the logic of the score from the measure in comparison to the intended value( Bernstein, 2016) . Types of validity evidence that will be used to check to determine the worth of the test include both face validity and content validity test. Face validity tests the validity of the test item by subjective view of the outcome and the stated objectives of that test. In measuring self-esteem construct, a questionnaire may be set and incorporate items like the good qualities the person has, whether the persons under test have a sense of self-worth. This form of the test has a high face value as there is a correlation between the test and self-esteem. On the other hand, an individual who uses the index finger as a measure of self-esteem will produce a test with a low face value as there is no correlation between the length of a finger and self-esteem. This test may, however, be reliable. This test is however subjective as it is based on the individual's intuitions about the behavior of humans. 

In the content validity test, the researcher uses a measure that incorporates all parts of the construct. If the researcher conceptualizes anxiety as involving the sympathetic nervous system and having negative thoughts, then the test should incorporate the nervous feelings together with both the sympathetic activation and the negative thoughts ( Bernstein,2016) . Another conceptualization that may be tested is attitude and exercise. One may postulate that doing exercises brings about good feeling and an urge to take part in an exercise. This will be regarded as a positive content validity test. 

The most reliable form of measuring the efficacy of a test is doing a reliability test on the assessment tool. Validity test only determines whether the test is logical and needs substantiation by the reliability test. 

There are distinct differences in the self reports that are used in measurement of conscientiousness. They vary due to the level of analysis that is used by the research approach. The use of ratings from the global personality self report is the most used approach. Despite the method used, the measurement is always dogged with certain assumptions. Firstly, the assumption made is that the personality traits are rated to reflect estimates of frequency for certain specific behaviors. Secondly, self reporting is misunderstood when the items are being selected for the global personality scales. While some may think the criteria used is high test–retest reliability, only internal consistency is used in evaluation. Lastly, they are thought to lack reliability but they are as reliable as all other measurement techniques. 

Despite this, self measurement done on the Likert scale would be interrogating ego control, motivation, order, competence, self discipline, dutifulness, deliberation, achievement striving, industriousness and social conformity 

Take the following personality test to measure your conscientiousness. Choose a rating that best describes you as you are and not as you would like to be. 

The rating is based on the likert scale with 1 being an indication that you strongly disagree while 5 shows you strongly agree. Rate every statement accordingly 

References  

Bernstein, E. M., & Putnam, F. W. (2016). Development, reliability, and validity of a dissociation scale.  Journal of nervous and mental disease . 

Chernik, D. A., Gillings, D., Laine, H., Hendler, J., Silver, J. M., Davidson, A. B., ... & Siegel, J. L. (2012). Validity and reliability of the Observer's Assessment of Alertness/Sedation Scale: a study with intravenous midazolam.  Journal of clinical psychopharmacology . 

Gronlund, N. E. (2014).  Assessment of student achievement . Allyn & Bacon Publishing, Longwood Division, 160 Gould Street, Needham Heights, MA 02194-2310; tel.