While the assessment is often referred to as a test, it is not. A test infers there can be right and wrong answers. There are only different results. The assessment is a non-clinical instrument intended for business use only and not for the diagnosis of abnormal behaviour.

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No! It seems to be a common misconception that specific characteristics, in this case Compliance (C), can be equated to intelligence but there is little evidence to support this theory. If you need to measure intelligence, interests, skill set, or any other aptitudes, then you should use instruments that were designed to assess those areas.

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Because we use the forced choice technique and because the "Person Analysis" takes less than ten (10) minutes to complete it makes it difficult to distort. Generally speaking, when we do not know what we are trying to achieve as a result, and we are on a timed limit, we answer honestly. Furthermore, the assessment will develop what we refer to as an 'Invalid' series of results when there are too many discrepancies in individuals' responses.

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This particular form and method of measuring personality has been utilized and tested for decades on thousands of individuals in many different walks of life from country to country. A number of psychological societies have done numerous tests on the system's reliability and determined its accuracy to be as high as 85% to 90%. We find the true test for accuracy lies with the individual being assessed.

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Not by using the "Person Analysis" by itself. Take the example of a sales person. Some questions to ask initially are: what is the product or service that is to be sold; who will the buyers be and so on. It was for this specific reason we have designed the "Position Analysis". Each sales role will vary from company to company and industry to industry. Furthermore, of great importance to success in the role is the behavioural style of the manager that the sales person reports to. The role requirement changes with different styles of management.

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The original theory of the D.I.S.C. system was not specifically designed to measure stress, but it is possible to draw some conclusions about the level of stress from the three graphs that the results create. The D.I.S.C. results can certainly give approximate indications not only of the amount of stress a person is currently experiencing, but also about the individuals' ability to deal with it. Additionally, the results can also indicate the likely source of the stress.

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The results of your original assessment can change over time. Just as we change, so can the results of the assessment. Generally speaking we may modify our behaviour in different situations in order to be successful. The changes are most noticeable in our 'External' graph but certainly over time changes in other graphs may occur.

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You must always remember that the "Person Analysis" and any other D.I.S.C. instrument will only measure one aspect of the individual. It will not take into account this person's background, education, experience, skill set, etc. All these aspects of a person should be considered before making a hiring decision. It may be that this is the only individual with a specific skill and your organization requires this skill, so you may choose to hire them regardless of any other results. Then with the D.I.S.C. results you can at least predict the areas of fit and non fit and how best to manage and train this person.

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Many universities' behavioural sciences and psychology departments have conducted research into the validity of the four-temperament Model of Human Behaviour. In 1921, Carl Jung published Psychological Types in Germany, identifying and describing four "types". William Moulton Marston earned his doctorate from Harvard in 1921, and was a professor at both Harvard and Columbia Universities. In 1928, he published The Emotions of Normal People, advancing his DISC theory. (He was a consulting psychologist, a pioneer in lie detection - and the originator, writer and producer of the Wonder Woman books and comic strips.) In the 1950s, Walter Clark developed an assessment tool based on Marston's work, the "Activity Vector Analysis." Today, more than 50 companies use the Marston DISC Theory as the basis for examining patterns of behaviour. Experts in psychometrics evaluate the validity of the assessment tool, comparing it (among others) to:

• Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale
• Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
• Cattell 16 Personality Factor Questionnaire
• Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)
• Strong Interest Inventory
• Performax Personal Profile

Marston-style assessment tools have been administered to over 30,000,000 people worldwide and enjoy respect in the business and education communities.

The "face validity" of our assessment instrument is very high - more than 81% of the participant's colleagues see it as a very accurate picture of his or her habitual behaviour patterns at work.

Its "construct validity" makes the results easier to interpret or relate to real life situations. This assessment relates meaningfully, with internal consistency, to other theories about behavioural styles.

"Style disparity" studies help predict the validity of stress responses shown in the report; they help measure the differences or conflicts between a participant's "Current Situation" and "How You See Yourself". In industry, these factors can be used to predict even absenteeism on the job - helping managers place employees in work situations that they will find stimulating and rewarding.

"Predictive validity" studies define the degree to which a measuring instrument can predict every day aspects of life - the participant's response to external factors. For example, poor personal relations create stress in most people, but that response is particularly magnified in "High Influence" individuals (because gaining the approval of others is important to them). In contrast, there is an overall negative effect on work satisfaction and mental health when most people have to carry the pressures associated with being a manager - but this effect is less among "High Dominance" individuals (because being in charge is important to them).

Finally, "perceived accuracy" by participants is very high. Among those who are primarily "D" in their style, accuracy is rated at 91%; for "I" types, it is 94%. Primarily "S" type individuals perceive an 85% accuracy, while for "C" types, it is 82%. This gives us an 88.49% perceived accuracy, with a standard deviation of 6.43%. In other words, the report generated by this process is perceived as highly accurate, in most situations, by most participants.

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Regarding the Civil Rights Act of 1964, United States Supreme Court Justice Burger, stated that, "Nothing in the Act precludes the use of testing or measuring procedures; obviously they are useful." Federal law prohibits giving total control to assessments or inventories unless they are demonstrably a reasonable measure of job performance.

Congress has mandated that job qualification be a controlling factor in order to eliminate race, gender, religion and national origin as determinants. No company can use any selection device or standard that has an adverse effect on a protected group (eg, a minority person, female worker, or person over the age of 40?. Any assessment instrument a company uses must measure an individual for the job, rather than measuring that individual in the abstract. Such instruments are used widely in business and government, including several EEOC agencies in the United States.

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The use of assessment instruments promotes objectivity and can reduce human bias in screening and evaluation. Rather than giving a fuzzy "you've got to do better" pep talk or a dark threat of termination during employee reviews, a manager can sit with an employee and say, "Your responses indicate that you really enjoy interaction with people, but that you really don't consider yourself a detail person. This may be why your reports have been late and why some of your figures didn't add up. Now that we have identified this area, let's put together an action plan that will help you meet deadlines and improve accuracy".

In assembling a workgroup or project team, a glance at the proposed participant's assessments will suggest balance or imbalance in desired skills, priorities and orientation. Sharing this information among team members may help them work together more effectively - understanding each other's communication styles and work habits.

In one hospital we know of, employees wear a little colored button that represents their style, reminding others how to adapt and adjust for improved productivity and harmony.

The Human Resources Department reports great excitement and acceptance by the staff and a more ready acceptance of employees as contributing team members.

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If this is your true graph, it may indicate a good amount of flexibility and adaptability. It also tends to indicate a lack of "passion" or "zeal" for any particular style. You may struggle for direction without this influence, so you will want to be a little more proactive in adapting.

Sometimes, this pattern is not the true behavioural style, but a temporary situation in your life may have created a significant distraction or interruption, unsettling, your daily life. If you suspect this might be the case, you may choose to:

• Wait a few days for your routine to return to normal, and then complete another "Person Analysis" Questionnaire; or
• Ask a close friend or two to complete a Questionnaire on your behalf - this will assist you in seeing how others perceive you; or
• Complete another Questionnaire, this time with a specific work situation where you felt most comfortable.

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It is generally true that any personality style can learn to perform a specific job. But the issues of comfort and fit and area of contribution can be heavily influenced by traits associated with specific styles. For instance:

• People-oriented individuals tend to do better with "social" projects involving contract with others;
• Task-oriented individuals tend to do better with "job performance" projects involving accomplishment and detail;
• Fast-paced individuals tend to do better with activities that change a lot and require high adaptability;
• Slower-paced individuals tend to do better with activities that change very little and are highly predictable.

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