New Principles Encourage Greater Accountability for Test Users and Developers
Clif Boutelle
The latest revision of the Principles for the Validation and Use of Personnel Selection Procedures has been completed and approved by the SIOP Executive Committee and the APA Council of Representatives. The revision encourages greater accountability by test developers and administrators to provide strong evidence that supports the claims they make about a test.
Last updated in 1987, the Principles is SIOPs official statement concerning procedures for conducting validation research in personnel selection. The updated version, says
Richard Jeanneret, chair of the Revision Committee, reflects the latest information gained from research and practice and is consistent with [the]
Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing.
The Standards, developed in conjunction with the APA, the American Educational Research Association, and the National Council on Measurement in Education, are broader in concept than SIOPs
Principles. The Standards address the construction, validation, and administration of a wide range of tests used in a variety of settings, whereas the
Principles are concerned primarily with tests used in personnel selection. Both are designed to support credible test development and use and should improve the entire field of testing, says
Jeanneret.
He added that the fourth edition is timely because the use of testing in work-related settings is growing considerably and is widely used by businesses and other organizations to influence personnel decisions. At the same time, where tests are primary factors in personnel matters, legal challenges have become more common and the responsibility to demonstrate the validity of a test is greater than ever.
The Principles set expectations for developing and administering tests, says Jeanneret, who has worked for the past 3 years with 11 other SIOP members and a 13-member advisory panel to update the
Principles. Validation is the evidence supporting inferences resulting from a test about an individuals behavior, such as job performance, effectiveness in a team setting, absenteeism, et cetera.
In addition to Jeanneret, the Revision Committee included Marcia M. Andberg, Steven H. Brown, Wayne J. Camara, Wanda J. Campbell, Donna L. Denning, Jerard F. Kehoe, James L. Outtz, Paul R. Sackett, Mary L. Tenopyr, Nancy T. Tippins, and
Sheldon Zedeck.
Advisory Panel members were Herman Aguinis, Winfred Arthur Jr., Philip Bobko, John C. Callender, Fritz Drasgow, Joyce C. Hogan, Leaetta M. Hough, Frank J. Landy, Kenneth Pearlman, Robert A. Ramos, Ann Marie Ryan, Frank L. Schmidt,
and Neal W. Schmitt.
Jeanneret emphasized that the Principles for Validation does not mandate specific approaches or actions regarding the validation and use of tests. Rather, it represents the consensus of professional knowledge and practice and can be used to guide and support the validation of tests and their use in the employment context.
Based upon a set of test results, we are making judgments about people and their abilities and their suitability to perform specific jobs. These judgments have enormous impact upon people and their careers and we, as I-O psychologists, need to be very diligent in providing strong evidence supporting outcomes derived from test scores, says Jeanneret. Test developers and administrators should be able to back up their assertions with scientific data.
An important resource for test developers, attorneys, human resource professionals, policy makers, psychologists, and other professionals, the
Principles for Validation is available through SIOP. Copies, at $10 each (plus $2.50 for shipping and handling), can be ordered online by going to the SIOP Web site at www.siop.org and clicking on TIP/Publications and then Book Order form or by calling 419-353-0032 to purchase with a credit card. The full text is also available online free of charge.
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