The Dutch Committee on Tests and Testing (COTAN) is part of the NIP and audits the quality of psychological tests that are available for use in the Netherlands and raises standards in the use of psychological tests.  The COTAN’s activities include monitoring psychological instruments  that are applied in settings like schools, human resource management, (mental) health care services and promoting the proper use of assessment instruments.

The COTAN has over 750 tests in its collection, covering a broad range of psychological constructs. These include intelligence tests, educational and developmental tests, occupational tests, personality tests and so on. The aim is to audit all psychological tests that are published for professional use. The tests are submitted to the COTAN by test publishers, individual test authors, or can be obtained from published journal articles or dissertations.

COTAN Test Audits

The COTAN assesses psychological tests along a comprehensive rating system. The purpose of these ratings is twofold.
1) Firstly, the ratings inform test users about the quality of available instruments. This information can be helpful in choosing the proper instruments for their setting.
2) Secondly, the ratings supply feedback to test developers about the quality of their products. For them the rating system can serve as a guideline for the development of tests and the writing of manuals.

The outcome of the ratings are published online at www.cotandocumentatie.nl The information in the database is only available in Dutch. In this database one can find information on the content and quality of the tests and purchase information of their quality.

The rating system
 
The text of the rating system as used by the COTAN is public and can be purchased from the NIP or downloaded free of charge from the site. The complete text is published in Dutch and English. This rating system provides grades for seven criteria:
• Theoretical basis and the soundness of the test development procedure 
• Quality of the testing materials 
• Comprehensiveness of the manual 
• Norms 
• Reliability 
• Construct validity 
• Criterion validity

Costs and duration of the procedure

The rating procedure is free of charge for the test author and/or the test publisher. Because the interests of many people and many institutions are involved, the COTAN works according to a careful and sound procedure. This may take some time, though the COTAN aims at completing a procedure within six months.

Test Practices and Ethics

The NIP has formulated a General Standardised Guideline for the Use of Tests. This document describes guidelines for the professional use of tests for diagnostic purposes. All members of the NIP are held to these guidelines and accept the terms and conditions set by the guidelines.  For more information about the General Standardised Guideline for the Use of Tests do Contact Us.

Contact

If you would like more information about the COTAN and its rating procedure please contact our members of staff Rinske Frima or Karin Vermeulen 
T +31 (0)30 820 15 00 (Monday and Thursday from 10.00 - 12.00)
E cotan@psynip.nl