Deck 11: Decision Making

Question 1

Utility refers to the expected gains to be derived from using a predictor.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

If you are using the "economic gains formula," and you have just increased the validity of your selection procedures with no change in cost,your economic gain value should increase.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

The selection ratio is the number of people hired divided by the number of applicants,and it is desirable that this ratio be high.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

The base rate is the number of hirees divided by the number of employees.

Question 5

Utility decreases as the number of valid predictors used in the selection process increases.

Question 6

Written job offers should normally contain terms of acceptance that require acceptance without revision.

Question 7

It is desirable that the denominator of a selection ratio be small.

Question 8

Disclaimers are often used in letters of appointment,job application
blanks,and employee handbooks.

Question 9

The approach where an applicant must earn a passing score on each predictor before advancing in the selection process is known as the multiple hurdles approach.

Question 10

All other things being equal,if a selection specialist must decide between two predictors,the one that causes the least adverse impact would be the best choice.

Question 11

A compensatory approach to selection decisions means that applicants must earn a passing score on each predictor before advancing in the selection process.

Question 12

Statements in employee handbooks can be construed as employment contracts.

Question 13

The most fundamental concern regarding utility analysis is that it lacks realism.]

Question 14

The usefulness of a predictor is determined by the value it adds to the prediction of job success above and beyond the forecasting powers of other available predictors.

Question 15

In rational weighting,each predictor receives a differential rather than an equal weighting.

Question 16

When deciding whether or not to use a new predictor,the validity coefficient,thebase rate,and the selection ratio should be considered in combination,not independently.

Question 17

Clinical prediction is the assessment of a candidate on the basis of objective judgments that takes the available information into consideration and concludes with an overall determination of the person's suitability.

Question 18

In general,the greater the correlation of a given predictor with other predictors of a criterion,the more useful the predictor will be.

Question 19

The three elements required for a contract to be legally binding are: offer,acceptance and written documentation.

Question 20

In general,the organization wants to control when the employment relationship
begins.

Question 21

The three elements required for a contract to be legally binding are: offer,acceptance and consideration.

Question 22

In general,HR specialists should orchestrate the development of staffing policies and procedures for all departments,but play a secondary or supporting role in the ultimate decision to hire in areas outside of the HR department.

Question 23

The most difficult factor in the economic gain formula to estimate is dollar value of job performance,which represents the difference between productive
and nonproductive employees in dollar value terms.

Question 24

In rational weighting,each predictor receives an equal weighting.

Question 25

Applicants tend to react positively when banding is associated with employment equity goals.

Question 26

The multiple hurdles method of setting a passing score for a job predictor would be a cost efficient method for making decisions about both critical and non-critical jobs.

Question 27

When random selection is used to select the finalist to whom a job offer will be made,discretionary assessment methods should be used.

Question 28

The most difficult factor in the economic gain formula to estimate is "cost per applicant".

Question 29

The minimum competency method involves setting the cut score on the basis of the minimum qualifications deemed necessary to perform a job.

Question 30

In establishing procedures for setting cutoff scores,organizations should stress the job-relatedness of the assessment procedure and de-emphasize validity.

Question 31

The expected gains of utility are hiring success and economic

Question 32

)In assessing cutoff scores,a "false negative" is an applicant who is assessed as not likely to succeed,but who would have been successful if hired.

Question 33

(p.403. )Cutoff scores or hiring standards regulate the flow of individuals from applicant to candidate to finalist.

Question 34

Banding refers to the procedure whereby applicants who score within a certain score range or band are considered to have scored equivalently.

Question 35

To ensure that multiple regression will be more precise than unit weighting,there must be a small number of predictors,low correlations between predictors,and a large sample.

Question 36

Banding is a procedure whereby applicants who score in different score ranges or bands are considered to have scored equivalently.

Question 37

Statistical weighting is more valid than clinical weighting.

Question 38

The advantages of the "unit weighting" method of determining the score of a job applicant on an assessment instrument is that weighting considers the relative importance of each predictor.

Question 39

Clinical prediction is the assessment of a candidate on the basis of subjective judgments that takes the available information into consideration and concludes with an overall determination of the person's suitability.

Question 40

The Angoff method approach refers to subject matter experts setting the minimum cut scores needed to proceed in the selection process.

Question 41

If an HR specialist is assessing the usefulness of predictors in forecasting job success,and it is noted that a given predictor has both high validity and high adverse impact,the HR specialist should conclude __________.

A)this can never happen and the method of calculating validity must be incorrect
B)this is a common circumstance and the predictor should be used
C)if the predictor is highly correlated with other predictors,this will compensate for adverse impact
D)legal problems could result and alternative predictors should be sought

Question 42

In terms of who should participate in selection decision making (i.e. ,HR professionals vs.line managers),HR professionals would be least likely to _________.

A)make the hiring decision
B)establish selection procedures
C)ensure relevant laws and regulations are being followed
D)represent the interests of employees to management

Question 43

Which of the following statements about disclaimers is false?

A)They can appear in almost any written documents made available to job applicants or employees.
B)They can be used to limit employee rights.
C)They are never oral.
D)Their receipt by employees should be acknowledged in some formal way.

Question 44

Which of the following statements about multiple hurdles approaches to decision making is(are)true?

A)They are used to prevent false positive errors.
B)They are relatively inexpensive.
C)They are generally preferable to compensatory model approaches.
D)They are quick and easy to set up.

Question 45

With which of the following methods are discretionary assessments least likely to be used?

A)Ranking
B)Random selection
C)Clinical prediction
D)Grouping

Question 46

Research suggests that banding procedures result in substantial decreases in the _______________ of cognitive ability tests while the losses in ___________ are relatively small

A)validity;reliability
B)utility;validity
C)adverse impact;utility
D)reliability;adverse impact

Question 47

If an HR specialist is making a decision to make a job offer to one individual from among a group of finalists,and the specialist wants to avoid accusations of favoritism,the best selection method would be _________.

A)ranking
B)grouping
C)random selection
D)clinical prediction

Question 48

Taylor-Russell tables are an effective decision making tool in that they _________.

A)allow for calculating selection ratios
B)enable HR specialists to calculate utility ratios
C)allow simultaneous consideration of a predictor's base rate,selection ratio,and validity
D)help to increase validity coefficients to more acceptable levels

Question 49

Methods of final choice include:

A)random selection and banding
B)substantive and discretionary methods
C)multiple regression and cut scores
D)ranking and grouping

Question 50

Economic gain formulas provide the HR specialist with an estimate of _____.

A)the economic gain derived from using a predictor versus random selection
B)the economic gain from using random selection
C)the economic gain of the standard deviation of job performance
D)the economic gain of the validity coefficient

Question 51

If a cutoff scores is lowered,the effect of this on hiring results is likely to be _______________.

A)fewer false negatives only
B)both fewer false negatives and more true positives
C)fewer false negatives and fewer false positives
D)more false negatives and more false positives

Question 52

When using multiple predictors and a compensatory model to make hiring decisions,and the variables serving as predictors are measured in different units of measure,the most advisable first step is to _________.

A)use clinical prediction
B)use unit weighting
C)convert raw scores into standard scores
D)employ unit weighting

Question 53

Which of the following statements about cutoff scores is a useful guideline for setting cutoff scores?

A)Cutoff scores should be consistent with normal expectations of acceptable proficiency within the workforce.
B)The job relatedness of assessment procedures should not be correlated with validity.
C)A single "best" method of setting cutoff scores should be identified.
D)Cutoff scores should be set to maximize true positives.

Question 54

When the selection ratio is low,the organization is more likely to be selecting successful employees.

Question 55

Under which circumstances is "hiring success gain" likely to be optimal?

A)Low selection ratio,low base rate,high validity
B)High selection ratio,high base rate,high validity
C)High selection ratio,low base rate,high validity
D)High selection ratio,low base rate,low validity

Question 56

When the cost of making false positive errors is extremely high,it is advisable to use _________.

A)compensatory models
B)multiple hurdle models
C)neither compensatory nor multiple hurdle models
D)discretionary models

Question 57

Which of the following circumstances would not enhance the precision of multiple regression as a method for assessing job applicants?

A)Small number of predictors.
B)Low correlations between predictor variables.
C)High correlation of each predictor with the criterion.
D)Small sample sizes.

Question 58

The selection ratio is

A)the number of offers times the validity coefficient
B)the validity coefficient times the base rate
C)the number of people rejected divided by the number hired
D)the number of people hired divided by the number of applicants

Question 59

Which of the following is a(n)limitation of utility analysis?

A)It is too costly.
B)It is too time-consuming.
C)It lacks realism.
D)It is not reliable.

Question 60

When HR specialists state that a new predictor "adds value" to the prediction of job success,they mean that ____.

A)the predictor provides economic benefit to prediction
B)the predictor has a high validity coefficient
C)the predictor adds to the prediction of job success over and beyond the forecasting powers of current predictors.
D)The predictor is highly correlated with other predictors,thus increasing
E)efficiency

Question 61

which of the following is not typically included in a job offer letter?

A)contract duration
B)hiring bonuses
C)employment equity decision
D)severance package

Question 62

Individuals selected into an organization's workplace who perform at an acceptable level are considered to be _______

A)a true positive
B)a true negative
C)a false positive
D)a false negative

Question 63

The assessment of a candidate based on subjective judgments (usually made by managers)that takes the available information into consideration and concludes with an overall determination of the person's suitability is(are)________

A)multiple predictors
B)compensatory model
C)clinical prediction
D)unit weighting

Question 64

Which of the following is likely to be a contingency related to a job offer?

A)Satisfactory reference checks
B)Job salary
C)Job benefits
D)Job vacation privileges

Question 65

Under what circumstances should a compensatory model be used? What should a multiple hurdles model be used?

Question 66

Individuals who are selected into an organization's workforce,but who perform at an unacceptable level are considered to be ______

A)a true positive
B)a true negative
C)a false positive
D)a false negative

Question 67

Your boss is considering the use of a new predictor.The base rate is high,the selection ratio is low,and the validity coefficient is high for the current predictor.What would you advise your boss and why?

Question 68

Individuals not selected into an organization's workforce,who would not have performed at an acceptable level if they had been selected are considered to be _____

A)a true positive
B)a true negative
C)a false positive
D)a false negative

Question 69

What are the advantages of ranking as a method of final choices over random selection?

Question 70

What are the positive consequences associated with a high predictor cutoff score? What are the negative consequences?

Question 71

Individuals not selected into an organization's workforce who would have performed at an acceptable level if they had been selected are considered to be _____

A)a true positive
B)a true negative
C)a false positive
D)a false negative

Question 72

What roles should human resource professionals play in staffing decisions? Why?