MEASUREMENT OF PERSONALITY
A number of methods are available for personality
assessment. They are classified into three – subjective, objective and projective.
A. SUBJECTIVE METHODS
The important subjective methods are observation, case
study, interview, anecdotal records and cumulative records.
1. Observation (Discussed under methods of educational
psychology)
2. Case study or Case history (Discussed under methods of
educational psychology).
3. Interview
As a
method of personality assessment, interview involves a face to face verbal
interchange in which the examiner has the actual proximity of the subjective.
Interview gives an opportunity for mutual exchange of ideas and information
between the subject and the psychologist. For assessing personality of a
student by interview, the teacher fixes a face to face appoint with the pupil.
After taking the subject into confidence, the teacher tries to seek answer to
his pre-planned questions. Besides the answers which the subject offers, his
expressions, tone, behaviour and other similar factors are also kept in mind
for the assessment of the personality of the child.
Interview
are broadly classified into two – unstructured and structured. In unstructured
interview, questions are asked according to the demands of the situation
without any pre-planning regarding the questions to be asked; while in the
structured interview, questions to be asked during the interview are planned
sufficiently earlier. In addition to these, there are several other kinds of
interviews such as: (a) survey interview- used to gather information, (b)diagnostic
interview – used to understand the problems of child, (c) therapeutic
interview- used to solve the personal, educational and vocational problems of
children.
Merits
1. It is the most dynamic way of understanding the individual.
2. It can be made flexible so as to suit many situations.
3. It permits explanation, adjustment and variations
according to the situation.
Demerits
1. It needs a well trained and competent interviewer.
2. It is costly in terms of labour, time and money
3. It suffers from the subjective bias of the interviewer.
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