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What are the attributes of a well-constructed survey item? The strength of an assessment derives from the behavioral items being measured. These items must be very carefully worded in order to measure the right things. You are advised to seek the input for and approval of the wording of draft items. Ask for the opinions of the people who will be assessed to avoid disagreements during the rating process. The following guidelines are provided to help you create effective assessment items. Use them as a guide for producing a draft of the special items related to the business of your organization. 1. Did you begin each item with an ACTION VERB? 2. Does the item describe an OBSERVABLE behavior? 3. Does the item describe ONLY ONE behavior? 4. Does the item describe an IMPORTANT behavior? 5. Is the item described as a POSITIVE, desired behavior? 6. Is the item described in CLEAR LANGUAGE? 7. Is the item FREE OF BlAS - sexuaI, racial or cultural? 8. Does this item, taken together with all of the other items, SUFFICIENTLY DEFINE the category? Evaluate the each survey item for each of the eight guidelines. This can be done before entering the items in the assessment software. 1. Did you begin each item with an ACTION VERB? Beginning an assessment item with an action verb is necessary to identify the observable behavior, and doing so ensures that aII the items will have a uniform format. EXAMPLE: Write it this way: Notifies other departments within an hour of receiving a change of order. NOT this way: Departments have notification of order change. 2. Does the item describe an OBSERVABLE behavior? Traits, characteristics, attitudes, motives, values, thoughts and feelings are important aspects of professional people, but they operate inside a person. If people cannot directly observe a quality or characteristic, they cannot accurately evaluate it. EXAMPLE: Observable: Discusses possible costs and benefits with team members before making money decisions. Observable behaviors: Creates Delivers Uses Coordinates Asks Organizes States Persuades Finds Non-observable: Analyzes possible costs and benefits before making money decisions. Non-observable behaviors: Knows Appreciates Values Tends Is Understands Believes Reflects Thinks 3. Does the item describe ONLY ONE behavior? If an item describes more than one behavior, the person evaluating may feel differently about each one. If two behaviors are important enough to be included, they should be represented in two items. EXAMPLE: Write it this way: Explains security procedures to students. NOT this way: Explains security procedures to students and sets the example for appropriate behavior. 4. Does the item describe an IMPORTANT behavior? Countless actions, steps, tasks, procedures, processes, performances and other behaviors are involved in any skill. It would be impractical to list them all in an assessment. The best approach is to focus on the activities that are crucial to performing the skill well. EXAMPLE: More important: Responds to customer requests before the end of the shift. Less important: Uses the unpublished phone line for outgoing calls. 5. Is the item described as a POSITIVE, desired behavior? Items that are phrased negatively do not indicate desired behavior so their measurement is inconsistent with items that are worded positively. A high score for such items would indicate a negative tendency, not a positive one. EXAMPLE: Positive: When discussing mistakes, talks about lessons learned. Negative: Blames others for mistakes. 6. Is the item described in CLEAR LANGUAGE? Much of business writing is excessively formal, complex and passive. This makes the message hard to understand. It is important that everyone clearly understand the behavior represented by each assessment item. Whenever you can, say it with fewer, simpler words. EXAMPLE: Write It this way: Tells phone receptionists right away when the stock level is low. NOT this way: Makes timely notification to work station technicians in instances of modifications to stock levels resulting in inventory situations that are below established parameters. 7. Is the item FREE OF BIAS - sexual, racial or cultural? An assessment must be understandable to everyone regardless of their sex, race, religion or heritage. It must always measure each person fairly. EXAMPLE: Culturally biased: Follows the Golden Rule when dealing with other people: Free of bias: Delivers orders on time. 8. Does this item, taken together with all of the other items, SUFFICIENTLY DEFINE the category? A whole is the sum of its parts. Are all the parts there? Do all the items relate to the category? Are any items more closely related to another category?
Article Source: http://www.articledestination.com
Dennis E. Coates is CEO of Performance Support Systems, author of MindFrames, a brain-based personality assessment system (www.initforlife.com) and co-founder of the Train-to-Ingrain alliance (www.train-to-ingrain.com, info@train-to-ingrain.com, 800-488-6463), which delivers a reinforcement-centered approach to learning and development that achieves permanent, measurable improvements in workplace behavior and positive impacts on business results.
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