Profile Analysis

Profiles can be defined as an examinee's set of subtest scores on a given test. Profile analysis refers to the determination of cognitive strengths and weaknesses and can be used to assist in making decisions regarding diagnoses and interventions. It is a tool attempting to make sense of the score variations of an individual or groups.

The information of a profile can be divided into three components: elevation, scatter, and shape (Cronbach & Gleser, 1953). Profile elevation is also called profile level, which refers to the mean score for a given person in a test. Scatter is a measure of dispersion of test score. In practices, range, variance, and standard deviation have often been used to calculate the scatter. Cronbach and Gleser (1953) defined scatter as the square root of the sum of the square of the individual's deviation score above his own mean in a test. Konold, Glutting, McDermott, Kush, and Watkins (1999) used the range between an individual's highest and lowest subtest score as the scatter.

The most sensible way to interpret the scatter of profile is to compare the dispersions of scores for two people or groups (Nunnally, 1978). Profile shape can be defined as the examinee's unique patterns of subtest peaks and valleys in his score profile (Cronbach & Gleser, 1953). It can be presented by the number of standard score points between an examinee's mean score and corresponding subtest score. Shape is also called ipsative score. If the ipsative score is positive, it represents profile peak indicating the corresponding subscore is higher than the examinee's overall mean score. If the ipsative score is negative, it represents profile valley indicating the corresponding subscore is lower than the examinee's overall mean.

The table below demonstrated how profile analysis can be used to identify strengths and weakness of an examinee in a mathematics test.

Example of Profile Analysis of Examinee A

Subtest	Subtest Score	Elevation	Scatter	Shape
Data Analysis and Probability	11	10.6	1.52	0.4
Algebra	13			2.4
Geometry	10			-0.6
Measurement	9			-1.6
Numbers and Operations	10			-0.6

 

In the table, the profile elevation of examinee A is his overall mean in the test which is 10.6 whereas his profile scatter is the standard deviation of his subtest score which is 1.52. His ipsative score or his profile shape is the differences between his subtests scores and his overall mean, which are computed and shown in the last column. From the table, his strength and weakness are the ability assessed by the Algebra subtest and the ability assessed by the Measurement subtest, respectfully; thus, the teachers can use this information to identify and plan interventions.