Psychometrics (game on, kinda!)

Ok, this is just a game (at least all winners, not all being equal) between Bipolar Games.

Every waking hour (GMT and lazy me), I will post a question. I'd like you refrain from answering until I've asked all questions (I will tell you when I'm finished).

The game element is that inter-rater reliability (the concordance between your answers and those of others) and your own answers will (hopefully) tell you how normal you are BP-wise. I'd say, in the spirit of BP, that abnormality makes you a winner, but it might be that normalcy is something that makes you a winner in your eyes.

Please try to answer as honestly as possible. You can't lose, either way.

To add a game element: you may give a prediction of the mean scores for all questions. I will first let you know when I've asked all questions and 24 hours after that I will ask you to give your own—honest—answers/scores. You may also predict how questions relate/correlate: either inverse, no or normal correlation (internal consistency or in(ter)dependence; extra points!). Game scores depend on how many degrees you're off: 8 minus that number/degree.

To add yet another game element, I challenge everyone to come up with her/his own questions and via the same procedure we may continue the game. Two rankings are finally made (if anyone takes me up on the challenge).

If there are any questions about any of this, please let me know.

Questions have to answered/scored as follows:

On a scale from 1 to 8 (not at all – very), compared to most other people (so not just those with BP: anyone):

Icare_1) how important do you find routine?

I understand this concept since I work in PsycTESTS at the APA, but this may be way too complicated for others. At least to understand the psychometrics described.

All the statistics aside (that will be done later and not all that rigorously), there are two rounds after I gave all questions (just a few, not more than 10).

The first round is for giving predictions and takes 24 hours. Just predict scores just like you would score your own answers.

The second is for giving your own score.

No "real"/common statistics will be used: that's not the point!

Just (like) variance per item and respondent and if one wants to score extra points, three types of correlation (does a increase for one score mean that an increase/decrease of another is likely or not).

I might give standard deviations to make it sound classy and to have a way of determining normalcy, but that's just "sugar on the cake" and doesn't matter: you can't lose. This will not be ranked.

Hope this helps. Thanks for letting me know it might "sound"/be a bit complicated.

Edit:
And to reduce the likelihood of confusion later, I will prepend to the numbers of my questions Icare_.

yeh ... a bit too much ... of course I never claimed to be the sharpest shovel in the shed ...

Please let me know if anything is unclear (for those not working for the APA, you know who you are ).

Let's do this one step at a time. You still have many hours left to answer each question with a 1, 2, ..., 8. 1 is not at all or virtually that, 8 is very much. Anything between that is in degrees between those extremes.

It's not gonna be much harder than that.

Correlations are not something you have to do (during the prediction round which is before you may give your answers).

Any statistics involved will be done by me and really aren't difficult but may seem difficult to the "untrained" eye. Lots of classy terminology, but just ignore that.

Ok, forget normalcy (for now), at least in SDs.

Variance per everything is just the offset per everything (every score for every person) but non-negative, so I may calculate the points for predictions (8 minus that difference).

Sorry! Really hopes this helps.

Ignore most, one step at a time.

Icare_2) how important do you find freedom?

(you might just copy Icare_[number] in your answers: it has no special meaning but can be used to distinguish between later questionnaires by others)

Your subjects beg for mercy.

quick get the kryptonite .....

Just answer the questions (only if you like to see how you compare to others). The results of this are just for fun. I would like it if the results point to one direction (which is the point), but regardless it's fun just for (casual) comparison's sake.

These may be my questions, but the experiment/game is ours. I am not gonna submit it to a journal or something (won't write an article or share any of this with anyone). But apart from the results, these first few questions are mine and I may re-use those. So may you. Might be fun to get to know someone in a very short time, who knows.

Superman because I can ask questions? I have to admit...

I'm gonna post this in other forums too, so don't make us BP folks look bad.

We are way smarter than we sometimes/often think. Mania really is truthful, before it turns deceptive (just a thought: not relevant!).

Edit:
I can hear the ASD brainiacs smile with contempt already.

Another edit:
See! I can see them... Damn those loose associations. Oh, those smiles!

Ok, this one's more ironic than I anticipated:
Icare_3) how important do you find clarity?

(see for yourself, the ASD folks don't ask stupid questions ).

Icare_4) how important do you find

?

(oh, no: outside influence, control! Control! Sorry I have little, no matter when, as you probably realised. Typical scientist me. ).

Edit:
Note especially how all those high notes lose all timbre (to our hears).

This is way above my pay grade. Glad I'm not the only person who doesn't get it.

The trick is just answering. The game elements may be lost on you a bit due to my rigour with such games and here in particular mixed with some maybe unknown terminology. Really doesn't matter! Looks difficult, but one step at a time. It really isn't difficult, I promise.

It's just predicting what others/most will answer and giving honest answers for yourself. If you don't want to predict: fine! Just be sure to wait 24 hours so others might, before giving your answers.

Maybe afterwards you can ask your own questions which might be more specifically attuned to characterise us. This can be statistically shown and you'll rank higher than me.

It becomes probably more interesting when we compare it to people with other diagnoses. It's like one thread through multiple forums.

How you actually get points (I will probably give you more points if there is more consistency among the answers for any one question) may seem a bit magical, but I'll explain it when we get there.

It hopefully will be fun. You can't lose much (some time only) by taking part.

Don't care about the statistics (or timbre for that matter), just like those a commentator might mention in passing at any game.

Icare_5) how important do you find works of fiction?

Edit:
Oops, wrong number. Fixed now.

The questions won't stay this dull, I promise. One more today. Tomorrow I'll post the last... 5.

Icare_6) how important do you find proof?

I get the game (I think) but my problem is, my answers would probably differ, depending on if I'm stable, depressed or manic. Right now I'm experiencing a mood episode and I see things differently and find different thing important than I might while stable. So I'm confused on how I should answer for the purposes of your experiment. Also, I'd have a very hard time determining or guessing the scores of others.

Very good point.

I hope the questions can be used regardless current state, but as you said, they might not (or certainly won't fit you).

I questions are about a non-depressive state. The importance (where the first questions are about) of anything is not felt during depression, like emotional blindness, so please answer the questions in the context of stability or mania (given my assumption that mania is more a matter of degree than of difference in qualities/types/symptoms.

If you don't think my assumption is valid in your case, please answer from the point of view where you are (more or less; as good as or completely) stable.

But very good question. Questionnaires that don't account for that really hard to answer, I agree.

So basically, not from a depression perspective.