Everything DiSC® and similar models are popular tools in organizations around the world for increasing self-awareness, communicating more effectively, building better teams, and navigating conflict. They aren’t meant to be, and aren’t validated as, clinical psychological assessments for diagnosis or deep trait measurement. Instead, Everything DiSC® is designed to quickly and easily assess behavioral preferences in workplace situations so that professionals can better understand themselves and each other. This makes it different from many other personality or clinical assessment tools that are used in organizational settings.
For more information, check out the rest of the Everything DiSC® Uncovered Series:
- Everything DiSC® Uncovered 1: Everything You Want to Know About Reliability & Validity but were Afraid to Ask
- Everything DiSC® Uncovered 2: Reliability and Validity of Everything DiSC – What Does the Science Say?
- Everything DiSC® Uncovered 3: Common Questions Answered (Simplicity, Barnum, Original Theory)
- Everything DiSC® Uncovered 4: A Balanced Exploration of Reliability, Validity and Practical Application
- Everything DiSC® Uncovered Series 5: Everything DiSC vs “Deeper” tools like Big Five
That being said, Everything DiSC® is not without limitations. This series will unpack some of the strengths and limitations of Everything DiSC®, specifically, and forced-choice work-style assessments in general. Content will be rooted in the publisher’s published technical evidence (e.g., the Everything DiSC® Manual, Chapter 4, as well as external white papers and research studies where available), as well as other independent sources, with comparison to similar assessments.
While some articles may lean a bit more towards positive or negative perspectives based on the information available, the entire series should come together to give an objective, evidence-based look at whether and how L&D professionals, facilitators, and consumers can and should use Everything DiSC®. By the end, readers should have a good understanding of what Everything DiSC® measures well, where it can add value to your organization, and what questions to ask (and behaviors to understand) (i.e., the limits) when working with this tool or others like it. Armed with this knowledge, individuals can more wisely choose when and how to apply DiSC in their organization to maximize development.
Please continue reading the articles in this series which cover common questions about the research and application behind Everything DiSC®. While there are many strengths to this tool when used appropriately in an organizational development context, the series will not shy away from identifying areas where consumers need to understand limits, use with caution, or potentially find a supplemental tool to fill gaps.
Articles 1-3 in this series covered three main psychometric properties associated with Everything DiSC®: internal consistency reliability, test-retest reliability, and construct (circumplex) validity as reported in the Everything DiSC® Manual, Chapter 4 as well as in external white papers and research studies where available. While Everything DiSC® scores appear to perform well across all three metrics, one modern feature really sets Everything DiSC’s measurement engine apart from previous generations of DISC® assessments: It uses computerized adaptive testing, also called adaptive testing.
When Wiley first introduced adaptive testing to the Everything DiSC® assessment suite circa 2012 to present, it enhanced the assessment experience by using advanced algorithms to deliver the minimum number of questions needed to place the respondent’s dot on the DiSC circumplex as accurately as possible. Everything DiSC’s use of adaptive testing helps drive the high levels of reliability and validity discussed earlier and earlier in this series, but how does it work?
Why is it better than traditional “fixed-form” assessments with the same number of questions for everyone? And how does it specifically help with developing teams and individuals in workplace settings?
How Everything DiSC®’s Adaptive Testing Works
Like many websites that give you different recommendations based on what you previously clicked on or how you answer initial questions, adaptive testing selects the next item to be answered based on responses to previous items. Everything DiSC® starts with some items that are fairly informative about the whole DiSC circumplex, then:
* Administers the question that will provide the most information about the test taker’s relative location on the circumplex, based on the current estimated position (in other words, once we think we know your style pretty well, we ask you questions that help us decide between two similar styles).
* Continues this process until we reach a prespecified level of measurement precision.
Instead of answering anywhere from 80-150 questions that might not be directly applicable to their style (Everything DiSC® scales range from 79-126 items depending on profile type and response pattern), respondents complete an online adaptive assessment that takes approximately 15-20 minutes. The system stops once the location of their dot can be determined accurately*, which means less fatigue from overly long surveys and more relevant items that create a dot placement that accurately reflects their priorities and intensity.
Increases Precision and Reliability
Wiley has published multiple white papers on their adaptive testing program, as well as a summary of their adaptive testing methodology in Chapter 4 of the Everything DiSC® manual. According to their research, this methodology has multiple benefits:
* Increases precision of measurement by about **12%** compared to the prior non-adaptive 79-item Everything DiSC® assessment, and **32%** compared to the original DiSC Classic forced-choice graph assessment.
* More precise measurements allow for more reliable (test consistent) dot placements and style classifications. This directly ties to the high test-retest coefficients already reported in Chapter 4 (.85 – .88 across the four scales), as well as low angle-change statistics (median of 12° over a two-week testing interval).
* Adaptive testing uses each individual respondent to select items that are appropriately difficult/discriminating based on their previous answers. This tailored approach reduces error within each person’s dot placement.
Supports Validity of the Circumplex Model
Better measurement also strengthens the validity of Everything DiSC®’s circumplex model. Compared to a longer, fixed-form test:
* More precise measurement of where a respondent falls on the circumplex supports the previously discussed circumplex patterns: moderate positive correlations between adjacent scales, strong negative correlations between opposing scales, and near perfect MDS fit to a two-dimensional model (stress .01326, RSQ .99825).
* Less noise in the measurement means we can more strongly trust the observed data matches the expected theoretical model, which has been demonstrated by factor analysis to be two underlying dimensions (two eigenvalues greater than 1).
* Adaptive testing can also allow for slightly different-item content to determine placement of the priority dot and accompanying feedback in different versions of the Everything DiSC® profile (Workplace, Management, Sales, etc.). More accurate reading of workplace behaviors should translate to increased validity for individuals taking these assessments.
Adaptive testing does an excellent job of placing respondents on the circumplex based on their behavioral style priorities. However, it does not measure additional constructs beyond the workplace styles that Everything DiSC® already assesses. While adaptive testing allows for more precise measurement of an underlying trait or ability (in this case, DiSC® style), it is not a fix for using Everything DiSC® in situations where deep motivators or personality traits may be more helpful. Supplementary tools should be considered to fill these needs (covered in Article 5).
Everything DiSC® increases the reliability and validity of Assessments
Adaptive testing is just one way Everything DiSC® increases the reliability and validity of its assessments beyond prior generations of DISC-style instruments. By only asking each survey-taker the minimum number of questions needed to place them on the DiSC circumplex, Everything DiSC® has created an assessment experience that is not only more psychometrically accurate, but also more convenient and engaging for the individual. Not only does the tool perform well on traditional validation metrics, but Wiley’s continued commitment to research and development helps improve commonly accepted practices for workplace learning and development.
