Reinout de Vries

The COTAN (Commissie Testaangelegenheden Nederland) is a Dutch national committee that evaluates Dutch tests and questionnaires. It is funded by the professional association of psychologists in the Netherlands, the NIP (Nederlands Instituut van Psychologen), and it is run by academic and professional volunteers with a background in testing and psychometrics. In the past years, I have experienced COTAN from different angles: as a committee member, as a reviewer, and as a (HEXACO-personality) test publisher. For publishers who want to get their test or questionnaire recognized, the COTAN is an important regulating body. A positive evaluation by COTAN is associated with a much higher demand for a test or questionnaire. Especially governmental organizations rely heavily on COTAN evaluations to determine which tests and questionnaires they use. In this presentation, I want to share with you my experience with the COTAN as a member, a reviewer, and a publisher. I'll discuss the criteria on which tests and questionnaires are evaluated, how the evaluation process takes place, and the extraordinary effort and data that is needed to be positively evaluated by COTAN for the use of a test or questionnaire in selection and assessment.