Epistemological and Ethical Challenges in Standardized Testing and Collaborative Assessment

Abstract

In this article, the author proposes that although treating clients humanistically may appear to be in conflict with the goal of objectivity in clinical assessment, they are not incompatible; and, indeed, as it is shown, the clinical psychologist has a responsibility to hold both goals in mind in order to achieve the most useful and accurate evaluations. Psychological assessment does not have to aim to remain exclusively in the realm of the “hard” sciences. Nor should assessment be relegated to the realm of pure subjectivity. The triangulation of narratives, particularly in collaborative assessment, provides a means of unifying theories, languages, and ways of producing knowledge and of being professionally responsible.