Disclosed is a method for determining the swellability and the swelling kinetics of superabsorbent material (9) such as polymer gels, for example, which comprises introducing a defined volume of the dry superabsorbent material (9) into a measuring vessel (7), using a movable element (4) within said measuring vessel (7) to apply a restraining force (12) to said superabsorbent material (9) and capturing the expansion of said superabsorbent material (9) contactlessly within a chamber (14) in a continuous manner by capturing the change in height of a piston (4) which bounds said chamber (14), travels in a measuring vessel (7) and is marked with a height scale (6).