MGTO 324 Recruitment and Selections
Measurement:
Basic concepts in testing
Kin Fai Ellick Wong Ph.D.
Department of Management of Organizations
Hong Kong University of Science & Technology
Prologue
• After recruiting, employers have to decide who should be
hired
• Selection tests are used to help employers make better
decisions
• The decision = a selection = a prediction
– What do we want to predict?
• Future job performance
– What is the prediction based on?
• Current observable attributes
Prologue
• Measurement =
– “assigning numbers to objects to represent quantities of an
attribute of the objects” (textbook, p.305)
Prologue
• More warm-up questions for you…
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Why do we measure?
What do we measure?
When do we measure?
How do we measure?
Outline
Measurement:
Basic concepts in testing
Part I:
Physical vs. Psychological Tests
Part II:
History of Testing and Selection
Part III:
Scientific Elements in Testing
Outline
Measurement:
Basic concepts in testing
Part I:
Physical vs. Psychological Tests
Part II:
History of Testing and Selection
Part III:
Scientific Elements in Testing
Part I:
Physical vs. Psychological Tests
• Individual differences
– Physical
• Age, height, skin color, voice, blood pressure, etc.
– Psychological
• Intelligence, personality, attitude, value
– Which one is the major target of selection testing?
Part I:
Physical vs. Psychological Tests
• Physical Tests
– Measured by appropriate apparatuses
• Straightforward
• No obvious problem in terms of validity
– E.g., Thermometer  Temperature; Ruler  Lengths
• Psychological Tests
• Intelligence, personality, attitude, value
• Problem in terms of validity
– E.g., Is the so-called IQ test really measuring intelligence?
Part I:
Physical vs. Psychological Tests
• See a typical “lay” psychological test from 香蕉網
(banana.com.hk)
– 你是怎樣的情人? (What types of lovers are you?)
– http://banana.com.hk/exp_psych/t3/
– PS
• I have never visited this site before preparing this lecture…
Part I:
Physical vs. Psychological Tests
•
So, how can I know that the test is a “useful” one?
– Reliable and valid
– Part II of this course mainly focuses on the issues of
reliability and validity in testing
– You are expected to be able to
a.
b.
c.
d.
Assess the extent to which a test is reliable and valid
Construct and validate a test
Use SPSS to achieve (a) & (b)
All of the above
Outline
Measurement:
Basic concepts in testing
Part I:
Physical vs. Psychological Tests
Part II:
History of Testing and Selection
Part III:
Scientific Elements in Testing
Part II:
History of Testing and Selection
• The evolution of Testing and Selection
– Political influences
• Early Antecedents
• World War I
– Influences from other science disciplines
• Charles Darwin
• Experimental Psychology
Part II:
History of Testing and Selection
• Trivia (冷知識)
– When and where was the idea of using testing for
employee selection first developed?
– The answer is….
•China
Part II:
History of Testing and Selection
• Political influences: Early Antecedents
– Evidence suggests that Chinese had relatively sophisticated civil
service testing program more than 4000 years ago (DuBois,
1970)
• Zhou Dynasty (around 1000 B.C.)
– Oral examinations
• Han Dynasty (around 200 B.C.)
– Test batteries were used for selection
» 董仲舒  五經博士
• Tang Dynasty (around 600 A.D.) to Ming Dynasty (around 1400 A.D.)
– A national multistage testing program
– Local  Provincial Capitals  Nation’s Capital
» 西廂記: 張居瑞
» 陳世美
Part II:
History of Testing and Selection
• Political Influences: Early Antecedents
– How about the Western World?
• 1832
– English East India Company copied the Chinese system for
employee selection
• 1855
– British government adopted a similar system of testing for its civil
service
– French and German governments followed it
• 1883
– The US government established the American Civil Service
Commission
Part II:
History of Testing and Selection
• Political Influences: World War I
– The problems
• Aircrafts lost due to ….
– The demand for military recruits
• Quick and effective ways to select people who are suitable to be pilots
– The US government requested assistance from Robert Yerkes
(1921), president of American Psychological Association
• Army Alpha
– Reading ability
• Army Beta
– Intelligence
• Group tests
Part II:
History of Testing and Selection
• Influences from science disciplines:
– Charles Darwin
• The Origin of Species (進化論)
– Variation within species; Mechanism of natural selection
• Francis Galton, Charles’ relative, a psychologist
– Applying Darwin’s theory to human beings
– Individual differences
» Some people have characteristics that made them more fit than
others
» Individual differences exist in human sensory and motion
functioning, such as reaction time, visual acuity, and physical
strengths
» Strengthening the idea that we need some methods to capture
individual differences
Part II:
History of Testing and Selection
• Influences from science disciplines:
– Experimental Psychology
• Weber & Fechner
– Psychophysics
– Using scientific methods to study psychological matters (e.g.,
sensation)
• Wundt
– Founder of modern psychology
– Psychology as a scientific discipline
• Testing = experiment
– Need to have control and to be objective
• Strengthening the notion that testing should be scientifically
conducted
Outline
Measurement:
Basic concepts in testing
Part I:
Physical vs. Psychological Tests
Part II:
History of Testing and Selection
Part III:
Scientific Elements in Testing
Part III:
Scientific Elements in Testing
• Scientific elements
– Observable
– Measurable
– Can be replicated
Part III:
Scientific Elements in Testing
• Scientific elements
– Observable
• Overt behaviors
– Respond time
– Answer to a question
– Correct rates of a test
• Covert behaviors
– Attitude, thoughts
– Inferred from overt behaviors
Part III:
Scientific Elements in Testing
• Scientific elements
– Measurable
• Can be detected and have quantified expression
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Weight: kg; lb;
Lightness: ultraviolet index 紫外線指數
Loudness: dB, 分貝
Intelligence: IQ
» Inferred from overt behaviors found in performance IQ test
Part III:
Scientific Elements in Testing
• Scientific elements
– Can be replicated
• Which of the following items means APPLE in French?
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PLIE
LIEP
EPIL
ELIP
Part III:
Scientific Elements in Testing
• Scientific elements in testing
– Quantified measurement
• Observable and measurable
– Reliability
• The measurement is precise
• Can be replicated
– Validity
• The measurement is valid
• It measures what it is supposed to measure
– Ruler  length; IQ test  Intelligence
Part III:
Scientific Elements in Testing
• Standards for educational and psychological
testing from American Psychological Association
– You may visit the website
http://www.apa.org/science/standards.html#overview
– Part 1: Test construction, Evaluation, and
Documentation
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Validity
Reliability and errors of measurement
Test development and revision
Scale, norm, and score comparability
Test administration, scoring, and reporting
Test documents
Part III:
Scientific Elements in Testing
• Standards for educational and psychological testing from
American Psychological Association
– Part 2: Fairness in testing
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Fairness and bias in testing and test use
The rights and responsibility of test takers
Testing people of diverse linguistic backgrounds
Testing individuals with disability
– Part 3: Testing application
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Responsibilities of test users
Psychological testing and assessment
Educational testing and assessment
Testing in employment and credentialing
Testing in program evaluation and public policy