Comparison of paper-and-pencil vs. computerized administration of the NEO-Five-Factor-Inventory (NEO-FFI)

To investigate the equivalence of the computerized version of the NEO-Five-Factor-Inventory (NEO-FFI), as implemented in the Hogrefe Testsystem, and the conventional paper-and-pencil version, 220 participants were tested applying a completely balanced design with repeated measures. Equivalence was examined on both the subjective and the psychometric levels. No differences between both versions could be found with regard to means and standard deviations for the single items as well as for the NEO-FFI scales. Furthermore, high convergent correlations between the corresponding items and scales of the two versions could be identified. Also internal consistencies, retest reliability, and factorial validity of the computerized and the conventional versions proved to be highly similar. The overall pattern of results provided strong evidence for a high level of equivalence between both NEO-FFI versions.