HRM textbook

CHAPTER 6 EMPLOYEE TESTING AND SELECTION 177
Here s how it works. 9 When a prospective employee applies for a job, his or her
information (such as school and previous employers) goes into Google s applicanttracking
system (ATS). The ATS then matches the applicant s information with that
of current Google employees. When it finds a match, it asks those Google employees
to comment on the applicant s suitability for the position. This helps give
Google recruiters a valuable insight into how the Google employees actually doing
the work think the applicant will do at Google. And it supports Google s strategy,
by fostering a sense of community and interaction among Google employees,
who see themselves working together to select new Googlers.
1 Explain what is meant
by reliability and validity.
BASIC TESTING CONCEPTS
A test is one popular selection tool. A test is basically a sample of a person s behavior.
Using a test (or any selection tool) assumes the tool is both reliable and valid.
Few things illustrate evidence-based HR the deliberate use of the best-available
evidence in making decisions about the human resource management practices you
are focusing on as do checking for reliability and validity.
Reliability
Reliability is a test s first requirement and refers to its consistency: A reliable test is
one that yields consistent scores when a person takes two alternate forms of the test or
when he or she takes the same test on two or more different occasions. 10
Reliability is very important. If a person scores 90 on an intelligence test on a
Monday and 130 when retested on Tuesday, you probably wouldn t have much faith
in the test.
You can measure reliability in several ways. One is to administer a test to a group
of people one day, readminister the same test several days later to the same group, and
then correlate the first set of scores with the second (test-retest reliability estimates.) 11
Or you could administer a test and then administer what experts believe to be
an equivalent test later; this would be an equivalent or alternate form estimate.
The Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) is an example. Or, compare the test taker s
answers to certain questions on the test with his or her answers to a separate set
of questions on the same test aimed at measuring the same thing. For example, a
psychologist includes 10 items on a test believing that they all measure interest in
working outdoors. You administer the test and then statistically analyze the degree
to which responses to these 10 items vary together. This is an internal comparison
estimate. (Internal comparison is one reason that you find apparently repetitive
questions on some test questionnaires.)
Many things cause a test to be unreliable. These include physical conditions
(quiet tests conditions one day, noisy the next), differences in the test-taker (healthy
one day, sick the next), and differences in the person administering the test (courteous
one day, curt the next). Or the questions may do a poor job of sampling the material;
for example, test one focuses more on Chapters 1, 3, and 7, while test two focuses
more on Chapters 2, 4, and 8.
Because measuring reliability generally involves comparing two measures that
assess the same thing, it is typical to judge a test s reliability in terms of a reliability
coefficient. This basically shows the degree to which the two measures (say, test score
one day and test score the next day) are correlated.
negligent hiring
Hiring workers with questionable backgrounds
without proper safeguards.
reliability
The consistency of scores obtained by the
same person when retested with the identical
tests or with alternate forms of the same test.