Models and Methods for Evaluating Reliability and Validity

Tests and structured assessments are used to make inferences and decisions about individuals and groups. In personnel selection, these can range from assessments of the knowledge, skills, and abilities thought to be necessary for successful job performance to evaluations of current and past job performance. This article discusses assessments that range from paper-and-pencil tests of work-related abilities and skills to the measures based on the judgments of an interviewer or a supervisor. Many of the principles of psychometrics were first developed in the context of multi-item written tests...

Tests and structured assessments are used to make inferences and decisions about individuals and groups. In personnel selection, these can range from assessments of the knowledge, skills, and abilities thought to be necessary for successful job performance to evaluations of current and past job performance. This article discusses assessments that range from paper-and-pencil tests of work-related abilities and skills to the measures based on the judgments of an interviewer or a supervisor. Many of the principles of psychometrics were first developed in the context of multi-item written tests of abilities or other enduring characteristics of individuals. In this article, the descriptions of the main models and methods of psychometrics are often framed in terms of specific characteristics of these tests (e.g., the use of multiple test items, in which all items are designed to measure the same characteristic of individuals).