Forced-choice and ipsative scoring, explained
In a forced-choice questionnaire you choose between options rather than rating each one. That design changes what the scores can be used for.
Rating versus choosing
| Rating scale (normative) | Forced choice | |
|---|---|---|
| What you do | Rate each statement, for example from 1 to 5 | Choose which option is most like you |
| What a score shows | How much of a trait you report, compared with a norm group | How your own preferences rank against each other |
| Typical weakness | Easy to agree with everything that sounds good | Scores share a fixed total |
Why ipsative scores describe one person
When every answer gives points to one option at the expense of another, each person's scores add up to the same total. That makes the scores ipsative: they show the order of one person's preferences, and they should not be compared directly between people.
Why forced choice is used
When stakes are high, people answer rating scales to look good. A meta-analysis found that forced-choice formats reduce this faking but do not remove it (Cao and Drasgow, 2019).
Newer scoring models
Statistical models built for forced-choice data, such as Thurstonian IRT, were developed to recover scores that avoid the distortions of plain ipsative scoring (Brown and Maydeu-Olivares, 2011).
Where the ICA sits
In each of the ICA's 40 situations you choose among four responses, so the four dimension scores always add up to 40. They are ipsative: they order your own four dimensions from strongest to weakest. That is why it reports a profile and an Orientation Strength Index rather than a rank against other people (how ICA scoring works). Its accuracy is currently being studied.
What this means in practice
- Use ipsative results for self-understanding, coaching and team conversations.
- Do not rank or select people by comparing raw ipsative scores.
- Ask any vendor which format it uses and why; see how to choose an assessment.
Questions
Is ipsative scoring bad?
No. It answers a different question: how a person's own preferences rank, rather than how they compare with others.
Sources
Keep reading
Take the next step.
How forced-choice questionnaires work, why ipsative scores describe one person rather than compare people, how they resist faking, and newer models.