The psychometric weaknesses of ipsative testing are well reviewed and for those interested I strongly suggest a thorough read of Meade (2004). In essence the critiques are at both a factor structure level as well as the corollary of reliability of measurement.
There are two reasons that people recommend ipsative measures for selection. The first is a mis-belief that they are less resistant to faking and therefore produce more valid results. The second is that marketing is fundamentally about having a point of difference
In this three-part blog, I will briefly discuss the basis for ipsative measurement, the issues with ipsative testing and the arguments brought forth in support.
There appears to be a resurgence of ipsative testing under the veil of CAT (Computer Adaptive Testing) for personality. Clearly there is a lot more quality research that must go on to develop a CAT for personality than the simple ipsative tests the market has seen before.