Multicultural Considerations in Testing - Research Paper Example

? Multicultural Considerations in Testing Introduction The need for cross-cultural considerations in the counseling profession cannot be over-emphasized. However, the level of awareness and commitment to this field is still wanting. The society we live in is clogged with racial, cultural, and linguistic differences that need to be keenly addressed while carrying out any psychological process (Fu, et al., 2004). Culture reminds people that they are not alone in the world and thus there are other tribes existing with practices that differ. Cultural diversity could be a source for inspiration and leverage for many people if well harnessed and used (Matsumoto & Yoo, 2006). This paper reviews the work done on multicultural testing and tries to major on the considerations that should be put in mind when such a psychological process is being carried out. The group being considered here are the physically challenged people. Doing the test through a multicultural perspective does challenge the traditional view by presenting another set of variations in cases where test responses are required, something that not all developers of tests and their users grasp. Ethnocentric errors are common in the development, administration, and subsequent interpretations of these tests which normally vary from misdiagnosis, inappropriate labeling of plans for treatment and thus making false conclusions (Knapp & Vande-Creek, 2003). Factors that the test user should take into consideration when selecting a particular test There exist cultural variations and there are factors that should be borne in mind when carrying out this test. These are: race which involves those attributes that are biological in nature and are not typically relevant when it comes to issues of learning; language these are the behaviors that make people achieve communication; age since test results for children adolescents and adults are normally different; educational status if the person is necessary since the schooling background does impact on how someone is proficient in reading, writing, and ability to manipulate numbers. It also does determine strategic thinking of a person as compared to the other; family where one comes from; gender which is male or female since these two groups perceive things in a different way; and cultural orientations (American Counseling Association & Association for Assessment in Counseling, 2003). Multicultural issues to consider when administering particular tests to this population Multiple relationships: such relationships do not have a negative effect on the individual, there are no ethical issues. It is important that certain cultural contexts there is need to have a closer and a bit more complex participation within the client’s life in order to guarantee good service and be able to protect the client. It is imperative to maintain mutual relationships with clients on a professional and social basis (Gross, & John, 2003). Competence: psychologists should only give service to clients when they have full knowledge of their profession and the cultural variations of their clients. Skills: the person should be able to put into practice skills that are appropriate in terms of culture and other practices. Self-awareness could help in application of skills. Flexibility in application of skills is also necessary to ensure that one can deal with diverse situations. Assessment: there is need to put into consideration the various factors which do have an influence on the scores of the test and its interpretations such as situation, language, and culture, among others for accurate reporting of the results of the test (MacKinnon, et al., 2002). Multicultural issues that can lead to incorrect interpretations, and evaluations and explanations of test performance There are factors that might affect the interpretation and evaluations of results leading into erroneous explanations. The first thing is the group membership of the person taking the test and how that kind of membership could be able to affect the results of a particular test. Given that we are looking at the physically challenged group, such people might tend to behave in ways that are not similar to those without physical deformations. The test user should be able to give an evaluation of the way the gender of the physically challenged person, age, race, marital status, socio-economic status, ethnicity, and other factors do affect the results of this individual. There is also the need to include cautionary statements in the report especially when the test results have differing meaning that is not comparable within the group. This ensures that those who use the report are able to interpret them with accuracy required. The professional that is interpreting and evaluating the results should be able to do so considering the nature that the content is in, group norms or comparison, evidence seen as being technical, the benefits and limitations that do come with such testing results. Given that this is a group of people with disabilities, it is essential that interpretations be made putting into account the necessary modifications that were done on the test or its procedures (MacKinnon, et al., 2002). Language proficiency, language comprehension, and writing related issues in the administration and interpretation of test scores for the physically challenged The most important thing is that the materials used in the tests should not have offensive content. The test should be done in a way that does not include symbols, words, content and phrases which are seen as offending other members of different culture unless that is established to be adequate. Proficiency needs to be done based on those tests that are able to give a range of features found in a given language and avoid single linguistic skills. There is need to determine the proficiency of language for every test taker in case where more than one language is used and as such, the language in which a test taker is most proficient in should be used. Basically, the test taker who is disabled needs to be able to understand or comprehend the language being used to test him or her and be allowed to use that language that he or she feels most proficient in using it. Test takers that require special modifications due to their linguistic backgrounds need to be documented and where such modifications are done, they should also be recorded. Interpretation of meaning should be done in the language most comprehensible by the test takers (American Psychological Association, 2011; American Counseling Association & Association for Assessment in Counseling, 2003). Suggestions on how to make adaptations to the administration of test The psychologists should struggle to see disability to be a dimension of diversity just like other dimensions and should thus not treat them physically challenged people as aliens; the assessment approach used should be one that ensures psychometric sound, comprehensive, justified and fair, and applicable to the clients who have disabilities; they also need to establish if giving accommodations to the clients with disabilities will yield better scores or not; they need to balance the qualitative, quantitative, and environmental perspectives such that they be consistent with the test goals, eliminating the barriers to successful assessment, and figure out limitations and strengths of the test; and finally, interpretation of the data needs to be done in a very fair manner. This could be done by reducing bias through necessary approaches, creating balance and use multiple sources in order to integrate data (American Psychological Association, 2011). Suggestions on how to improve the reliability and validity of test interpretation with this population Evaluation of the evidence at hand based on performance of the subgroups where the extent of differences that are caused by other issues not related to the skills being established should be done. Reliability data in relation to each physically challenged group is very essential ad should thus be provided. In cases where these groups for physically challenged are varied in terms of age, gender, and others, there is need to provide reliability data for every group. In case there is permitted major variation in the procedures of administering the test, it is important that a separate analysis of reliability be carried out based on the scores that have been given. The tests developers dealing with these physically challenged people need to collect similar validity evidence if at all the test scores are different in meaning in situations where the groups have differences in language. Pilot testing should be done in situations where tests have been modified due to the need to suit certain disabilities and this pilot test needs to be done on people who possess similar disabilities so that the modifications could be established as being appropriate or not (Joint Committee on Testing Practices, 2002). Multicultural guidelines to be considered when assessing populations of various cultural backgrounds The psychologists are required to recognize that they are cultural beings and as such they may have individual attitudes and beliefs likely to influence the way they perceive and interact with other people who are culturally different from them and this influence could be negative. For that reason, they need to avoid issues that predispose them to biasness and negative assumptions; they need to realize the necessity of being sensitive to cultural orientations, gain knowledge and understanding of people who have different cultural backgrounds since membership of an individual’s group might shape the other’s; the practitioners need to use constructs based on multiculturalism and diversity while doing the tests to these physically challenged people; they should be able to carry out tests on all people regardless of their cultural backgrounds; psychologists should strive to put into application the culturally-appropriate skills during their clinical and psychological tests; and finally, the practitioners need to apply the change processes in order to help in promoting a culturally informed policy in terms of its development and use (American Psychological Association, 2011). Conclusion There have been rampant abuses of psychological testing with different groups based on their ethnicity, race, gender, culture and language within the profession. There are ethical concerns that have been expressed in relation to causing harm to the people being tested due to poor application of these tests and subsequent interpretation of their results and this is one of the reasons why guidelines on testing procedures and standards have been issued (Bond, 2004). This group of disabled people is most challenging to deal with when conducting a multicultural testing. However, it is important that psychologists do recognize the need to have a wider range of responses from individuals with disabilities and be able to collaborate with them, their families and other stakeholders in order to make good and effective testing plans for the needed psychological interventions. 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