'Belbin's team role inventory is not a psychometric test.' To what extent do you agree with this statement? Use examples of research you have studied to support your answer.

Mark scheme

Marking points from the official mark scheme (Feb/Mar 2019). The mark or mark type is shown in brackets.

1. [1] It is not: Belbin himself says that it is not: the Belbin Inventory scores people on 'A tendency to behave, contribute and interrelate with others in a particular way.'
2. [1] It is not: It analyses how people work together as a team. A psychometric test usually focuses on an individual person only.
3. [1] It is not: Quote 'Observer Assessments provide independent evidence about an individual's Team Roles. A Self-Perception test is only as good as an individual's sense of personal realism. Some people answer in terms of how they would like to contribute rather than how they really behave.'
4. [1] It is: It has many features of a psychometric test: reliability and validity for example.
5. [1] It is: Its origins were in a number of psychometric tests, so it is just an extension of a psychometric test.
6. [1] It is: Psychometric tests often classify people into different types. This is exactly what the Belbin test does.