Number 4 in the Validity of Public Safety Assessments Series

The idea for this primer series germinated from a simple question – “Could you do an article looking at the validity of tests used in public safety assessment?” In response, I decided to do a series of articles aimed to inform, but also designed to keep things simple. The blogs in this series were intended to cover:

1. What are the characteristics of a good test?
2. What are some authoritative references human resource and assessment professionals can rely upon in evaluating the worthiness of tests?
3. What is validity?
4. Finally, trying to address the original question I was asked, are public safety assessments valid?

The first three blogs in the primer series have been published and are available by clicking the links above.

This is the fourth and final article in the series and is intended to answer the question regarding the validity of tests for public safety jobs. I define public safety jobs here as including police, fire, and emergency medical services (EMS). In addition, human resource professionals are usually interested in the use of tests in both entry level screening and for arriving at promotion decisions. (more…)

Number 3 in the Validity of Public Safety Assessments Series

The idea for this primer series germinated from a simple question – “Could you do an article looking at the validity of tests used in public safety assessment?” In response, I decided to do a series of articles aimed to inform, but also designed to keep things simple. The blogs in this series are intended to cover:

1. What are the characteristics of a good test?
2. What are some authoritative references human resource and assessment professionals can rely upon in evaluating the worthiness of tests?
3. What is validity?
4. Are public safety assessments good tests and are they valid?

The first two blogs in the primer series has been published and are available by clicking the links above.

This is the third in the series and is intended to provide a basic introduction into the various kinds of validity evidence. By validity evidence, I do not mean the obvious distinction between the big four of:

1. Content
2. Criterion-related
3. Construct
4. Transfer or Transportability

Understanding the distinctions between the four types of validity listed above is important. However, in this blog, I mean something different by types of validity evidence. As our ultimate purpose or goal is to respond to the question as to whether tests are valid for purposes of public sector assessment, we can consider the following five types of validity evidence as relevant:

1. Local Validation Based on Criterion-Related Evidence
2. Validity Generalization Evidence Based on Tests in General
3. Validity Generalization Evidence Based on Specific Occupation
4. Validity Generalization Evidence Based on Specific Test
5. Other

(more…)