Question 1

The size of the sample on which the correlation is based has no role in achieving statistical significance.

Accepted Answer

Although it is generally true that bigger correlations are better, the size of the sample on which the correlation is based plays a large role as well.

Question 2

Compliance of executive orders is monitored by the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs.

Accepted Answer

Executive orders are monitored by the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), which issues guidelines (like the Affirmative Action Program Guidelines published by the Bureau of National Affairs in 1983)to help companies comply.

Question 3

Much of the work in personnel selection involves measuring characteristics of people to determine who will be accepted for job openings.

Accepted Answer

Much of the work in personnel selection involves measuring characteristics of people to determine who will be accepted for job openings. For example, organizations might be interested in applicants' physical characteristics (like strength or endurance), their cognitive abilities (such as spatial memory or verbal reasoning), or aspects of their personality (like their decisiveness or integrity).

Question 4

Experience-based items ask what the person is likely to do when confronting a certain hypothetical situation in the future.

Accepted Answer

"Experience-based" items require the applicant to reveal an actual experience he or she had in the past when confronting the situation. "Future-oriented" items ask what the person is likely to do when confronting a certain hypothetical situation in the future.

Question 5

The Civil Rights Act of 1991 protects individuals from discrimination based on race, sex, religion, and national origin with respect to hiring as well as compensation and working conditions.

Accepted Answer

The Civil Rights Act of 1991, an extension of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, protects individuals from discrimination based on race, color, sex, religion, and national origin with respect to hiring as well as compensation and working conditions.

Question 6

Reliability refers to the measuring instrument rather than to the characteristic itself.

Accepted Answer

Reliability refers to the measuring instrument rather than to the characteristic itself. Reliability can be estimated in several different ways and most of these rely on computing a correlation coefficient.

Question 7

Reliability is defined as the degree to which the validity of a selection method established in one context extends to other contexts.

Accepted Answer

Generalizability is defined as the degree to which the validity of a selection method established in one context extends to other contexts. There are two primary "contexts" over which we might like to generalize: different situations (jobs or organizations)and different samples of people.

Question 8

A measure can be valid without being reliable.

Accepted Answer

A measure must be reliable if it is to have any validity. On the other hand, we can reliably measure many characteristics (like height)that may have no relationship to whether someone can perform a job.

Question 9

The correlation coefficient is zero for a perfect positive relationship.

Accepted Answer

A correlation coefficient expresses the strength of the relationship in numerical form. A perfect positive relationship (as one set of numbers goes up, so does the other)equals +1.0; a perfect negative relationship (as one goes up, the other goes down)equals -1.0.

Question 10

The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1991 protects individuals with physical disabilities, but not those with mental disabilities.

Accepted Answer

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)of 1991 protects individuals with physical and mental disabilities (or with a history of the same), and requires that employers make "reasonable accommodation" to disabled individuals whose handicaps may prevent them from performing essential functions of the job as currently designed.

Question 11

Validity is the extent to which performance on the measure is related to performance on the job.

Accepted Answer

Validity is the extent to which performance on the measure is related to performance on the job. A measure must be reliable if it is to have any validity.

Question 12

A physical ability test measures balance but not coordination.

Accepted Answer

Physical ability tests evaluate (1)muscular tension, (2)muscular power, (3)muscular endurance, (4)cardiovascular endurance, (5)flexibility, (6)balance, and (7)coordination.

Question 13

The degree to which a measure is free from random error refers to its reliability.

Accepted Answer

Reliability is defined as the degree to which a measure is free from random error. If a measure of some supposedly stable characteristic such as intelligence is reliable, then the score a person receives based on that measure will be consistent over time and in different contexts.

Question 14

The utility of any given test generally increases as the selection ratio gets higher.

Accepted Answer

The utility of any test generally increases as the selection ratio gets lower, so long as the additional costs of recruiting and testing are not excessive.

Question 15

A concurrent validation assesses the validity of a test by administering it to people already on the job and then correlating test scores with existing measures of each person's performance.

Accepted Answer

Concurrent validation assesses the validity of a test by administering it to people already on the job and then correlating test scores with existing measures of each person's performance. The logic behind this strategy is that if the best performers currently on the job perform better on the test than those who are currently struggling on the job, the test has validity.

Question 16

The more reliable, valid, and generalizable a selection method is, the more utility it will have.

Accepted Answer

Utility is the degree to which the information provided by selection methods enhances the bottom-line effectiveness of the organization. In general, the more reliable, valid, and generalizable the selection method is, the more utility it will have.

Question 17

Validity is necessary but not sufficient for generalizability.

Accepted Answer

Just as reliability is necessary but not sufficient for validity, validity is necessary but not sufficient for generalizability.

Question 18

As per the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the burden of proof always lies with the person who faces discrimination.

Accepted Answer

Court interpretations of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act also mirror those of the Civil Rights Act, in the sense that if any neutral-appearing practice happens to have adverse impact on those over 40, the burden of proof shifts to the employer, who must show business necessity to avoid a guilty verdict. The act does not protect younger workers (thus there is never a case for "reverse discrimination" here).

Question 19

The inability to use content validation in small sample settings makes it generally less applicable than criterion-related validation.

Accepted Answer

The ability to use content validation in small sample settings makes it generally more applicable than criterion-related validation.

Question 20

Content validity is achieved primarily through a process of expert judgment.

Accepted Answer

Although criterion-related validity is established by empirical means, content validity is achieved primarily through a process of expert judgment.

Quiz 6: Selection and Placement