Bochum knowledge test
The Bochum knowledge test (BOWIT) is a test procedure developed according to scientific criteria that measures the knowledge of the participants in various relevant areas (such as philosophy , mathematics , economics, etc.). The BOWIT claims to measure this aspect reliably. The target group are students, university graduates as well as specialists and managers. The test is suitable for individual location determination, for example in the context of questions of personnel placement or personnel selection . In addition to existing performance test batteries, the BOWIT is intended to provide reliable data with regard to the individual level of knowledge of the test participants. The use of the BOWIT in the context of career counseling has also proven useful .
Development of the test
The first development steps of the BOWIT came about in 1997 as part of a project seminar at the Ruhr University Bochum . After analyzing the curricula of schools and universities, an initial catalog of 1200 questions was created. This catalog was further developed and compressed in several research versions, including reliability tests and item analyzes . The published version contains 154 questions and takes about 45 minutes to complete. A short version has also been developed. This comprises 45 questions, so that a processing time of around 20 minutes can be expected.
Structure of the test
The BOWIT consists of 154 single-choice questions on eleven facets of general knowledge . There are four answer options for each question, as well as the option "None of the answers apply". For each item only one answer option is correct. The option "None of the answers applies" is used to reduce the probability of guessing. For each of the facets, the number of correctly answered questions is compared with the values in the selected reference group. The evaluation indicates for the entire test as well as for the individual knowledge areas to what extent the participant was able to answer an above or below average number of questions.
Eleven facets of general knowledge
The eleven areas of knowledge of the BOWIT are:
• Biology / chemistry (sample question: How do you call a muscle to pull a limb?)
• History / archeology
• Mathematics / physics
• Philosophy / religion
• Language / literature (sample question: Who is the author of the Deutschlandlied ?)
• Technology / IT
reliability
The reliability values of the BOWIT as an overall procedure take values above .90: the parallel test reliability is .91, the retest reliability is .96 and the internal consistency is .95. If you calculate the internal consistency of the individual eleven facets, the result is values between .60 and .84.
validity
The validity of the BOWIT is assured in many ways (cf. Hossiep & Schulte, 2008). For example, the external validity is proven by significant correlations between the procedure and educational and learning-related criteria such as a degree or high school diploma. There are also strong connections between the BOWIT result and occupational criteria such as income and hierarchical position. Indications of the internal validity result from the correlation of interest in a field of knowledge and performance in BOWIT. Correlation coefficients of .19 - .54 result for the individual areas of knowledge. The convergent validity was determined by measuring the relationship of the BOWIT with the knowledge module of the general intelligence tests IS-2000R tested. The correlation was .75.
Normalization
The BOWIT is based on a standardized sample of several thousand participants. In addition to the overall sample, the BOWIT results can also be evaluated against the background of various specific comparison groups, e.g. B. by age, gender or occupation (student, specialist, manager, etc.).
literature
- Bergmann, N. (2007). Comeback of wisdom. For you, 08/2007 , 68–70.
- Hess, Wolfgang (2007). "At 50 you simply know more". Bild der Wissenschaft, 10/2007 , 26–29.
- Hossiep , R. & Schulte, M. (2008). BOWIT - Bochum knowledge test . Göttingen: Hogrefe.
- Liepmann, D. & Beauducel, A. (2010). Instruments of work and organizational psychology: BOWIT - Bochum knowledge test. Journal of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 54 (1), 39–45.