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Table 6 Test-taking strategies described by participants in the response selection stage

From: Situational judgment test validity: an exploratory model of the participant response process using cognitive and think-aloud interviews

Test-taking strategies

Description

Example of strategies

Ordered Approach

 Best to Worst

Identify responses in order from most to least appropriate

“Going from what would be least conflict inducing to most inducing” (P11)

 Worst to Best

Identify responses in order from least to most appropriate

“I started with the least appropriate and worked my way to most” (P04)

 Extremes First

Identify responses at the extremes first (least and most appropriate), then the middle

“I identified the first and fifth one” (P06)

 Chronologically

Identify responses in order that actions would be performed

“I would do every single one of these in this order” (P10)

 Pattern

Identify responses in a type of pattern that is relatively consistent

“I’m noticing a pattern – acknowledge, ask, offer, tell, stay” (S06)

Compare Responses

Evaluate response ranking by comparing two at a time

“So, deciding between imagining things and confronting the person” (S12)

Rephrase

State the responses in a different way to identify the ranking

“So, what do I do?” (S09)

Guess

Randomly assign rankings to a response

“I just kind of put numbers down because I didn’t know” (S12)

Before Reading Responses

Attempt to identify the best response before reading the answer options

“Before even looking at the answers, I would think about …” (S02)

Process of Elimination

Assign a ranking based on what remains after ranking other options

“I guess through process of elimination it leaves …” (P07)