Watson-Glaser UNSUPERVISED and SUPERVISED (UK Edition)
Measure critical thinking ability. Supervised and unsupervised.
| Author/s: | Goodwin Watson and Edward M Glaser, 2002 |
|---|---|
| Administration: | Individual or Group - Up to 30 minutes. 40 items. Online or paper & pencil (supervised only) |
| Qualification code: | OC2 (BPS Level A / Test User: Occupational Ability) |
| Norms: | A range of norms is included in the report (see Sample report) |
| Scoring: | Hand scored, online or bureau service |
| Age ranges: | Adults |
Description
Critical thinking is the ability to look at a situation and clearly understand it from multiple perspectives whilst separating facts from opinions and assumptions.
Watson Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal looks at
- Comprehension
- Analysis
- Evaluation
This questionnaire will help you hone your critical thinking by focusing on the skills needed at each stage of this three-fold strategy:
- Clarifying your understanding of a subject
- Analysing and interpreting the information you have gathered to ascertain the facts, claims and arguments, as well as to highlight assumptions, errors and inconsistencies
- Deciding what to do or believe by evaluating the evidence and judging its credibility
Managers at all levels are bombarded with information that looks good on the surface but may be incomplete or even flawed. It's easy to make assumptions, draw the wrong conclusions and, therefore, make the wrong decisions. Making the right decisions in business is vital.
Watson-Glaser Unsupervised
With over 85 years of ongoing development, Watson-Glaser has earned its reputation as THE global measure of critical-thinking ability.
Feedback from a large number of clients is that the Watson-Glaser is highly predictive of job success in roles from graduates and above. Until now, however, its use has been limited as a test with supervised administration.
In response to requests for an unsupervised version to allow candidate sifting, we have developed a new 40 item, online, item-banked version of Watson-Glaser which can be used for unsupervised testing: Watson-Glaser UNSUPERVISED.
This makes Watson-Glaser more suitable for "sifting" job applicants which will allow those less likely to succeed in the role to be sifted-out early on in the selection process before the costlier, final stages of assessment.
A secure paper and pencil version of the test (Watson-Glaser Supervised) will still be available for supervised completion. There is also the option for candidates to take the test under secure conditions through Pearson Vue's UK network of over 150 Professional Test Centres.
Braille (Grade 1 or 2) and large print versions of Watson-Glaser Supervised are available on loan by request. Please contact Customer Service on 0845 630 8888 or email info@talentlens.co.uk with your requirement.
NB Currently Watson-Glaser Unsupervised is only available in the UK
Norms
New norms are available for Watson-Glaser UNSUPERVISED and these are integrated within the profile report (see Sample report). In-house norms built by organisations can be mapped to the new item-banked test by Pearson TalentLens' Consultants. Please email info@talentlens.co.uk to find out more about this service.
A full set of norm tables are available to download free of charge to registered users from the website Resources section. Please login before you attempt to view or download.
Reports
The following reports are available:
- A profile report containing the test-taker's score against all norm groups
- Retest report. This compares test-retest scores (comparing scores of unsupervised v supervised completion)
- An interview report with questions based on the test-taker's score at the sub-scale level. Interview questions will change depending on these sub-scores
- A development report for use in development interventions. The report shows how to leverage strengths in critical thinking and create a development plan.
The new 40 item version has full equivalence to the current 80 item Form C, which is still available upon request.
Practice tests
A Watson-Glaser familiarisation and practice booklet is available in the resources section for holders of the British Psychological Society's Test User, Occupational: Ability [Level A] qualification.
Candidates who are about to take the Watson-Glaser and require a practice test should contact their test administrator or the organisation for which they are taking the test. However, candidates are able to practice their critical thinking skills via an iPhone Think-O-Meter App. Click on the Information for Test Takers link in the For this product panel to download.
Watson-Glaser Unsupervised FAQs >
This new version of Watson-Glaser contains:
- More contemporary and business relevant items
- Interpretable sub-scale scores that provide information about three critical thinking skill domains:
- Better face validity and applicability of items for individuals from countries other than the United States
- Scoring based on Item Response Theory (IRT) allowing a more accurate estimate of true critical thinking skills
- Automated reports which include a basic Profile Report, an Interview Report, and a Development Report are available
- There is the ability to re-test candidates who completed Watson-Glaser UNSUPERVISED with a further supervised test that can be administered online or via paper and pencil.
- A range of Norm Groups available - see sample report
Watson-Glaser Development 1926-2011
The Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal has a distinguished history, dating back to its initial development in the 1920s.
It was designed to measure important abilities and skills involved in critical thinking. Since then it has been used in thousands of private and public sector organisations as a selection and development tool and in academic settings.
It is internationally recognised as a solid tool for use in the workplace with versions available in UK and US English as well as Dutch, German, French, Spanish and Swedish.
Critical thinking ability itself is viewed with increasing importance in managers and in the US it is deemed a 21st Century skill. The importance of critical thinking has been reflected in other countries and in the UK, for example, there is now an A-level in Critical Thinking.
There have been a number of refinements and developments to the test since its launch. These revisions were undertaken to incorporate enhancements requested by customers while maintaining the qualities that have made the Watson-Glaser the leading critical thinking appraisal over the last 85 years.
Need a larger version of this image? Download pdf
The Development of the Watson-Glaser UNSUPERVISED
Methodology
The new online, multi-form version of Watson-Glaser has been carefully and scientifically developed so that the assessment retains its established psychometric quality whilst also offering a more flexible administration style.
The new system allows tests to be generated from a pool of questions sitting in an 'item bank.' The new test questions have been written in the same style and format by experts in the field of workplace assessments and psychometrics.
All of the new content has gone through rigorous reviews to ensure that the content is relevant and fair for international use.
The new test questions have been calibrated, using advanced psychometric theory (IRT), which powers the tests to ensure that all tests and scores are equivalent to the original version.
The item bank contains a range of questions from which 40 questions are selected randomly to form an online test for a test taker.
This process allows a secure form of online testing in that previous experience of taking the test will not help test takers, nor will sharing their experiences of question knowledge (which can happen with tests that have only one fixed version).
The question selection process has been carefully designed so that different tests generated will have similar difficulty and range of topics covered (e.g. business relevant, politics, health etc) as well as various other more technical constraints.
Testing, Reliability and Validation
The new questions have been trialled together on a sample of over 2000 graduates and job applicants. Reliability analysis of randomly pooled tests has shown an average reliability coefficient of 0.76, indicating that the item-banked tests provide a reliable and consistent measure of critical thinking ability.
Equivalence of the new test to previous versions
The look and style of the new questions is the same as the questions in previous versions and continues to have good face validity in the measurement of critical thinking skills.
The strong relationship between new and previous versions means that the validity as shown in the existing version will transfer to the new versions.
This means that anyone currently using a previous version of Watson-Glaser can move to using the new, item-banked version with full confidence and benefiting from the more flexible administration options. We have also re-calibrated existing norm groups for use on the new versions.
Bureau Service
We are pleased to offer a bureau service for this product. Please contact talentresources@pearson.com or call Sue Overy on 020 7010 2861.
Please note that this product is only available to registered users with an OC2 Qualification Code.
Are you looking to develop your critical thinking, but don't have the qualifications to use Watson Glaser? We now offer an online behavioural questionnaire measuring your critical thinking with a report offering developmental tips and advice. This is available to anyone, without the need for any qualifications, from the eshop at www.peterhoney.com.
