Job-naive raters provided with job descriptive information made Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ) ratings which were validated against ratings of job analysts who were also job content experts. None of the reduced job descriptive information conditions enabled job-naive raters to obtain either acceptable levels of convergent validity with…

Investigated accuracy of responses to biodata questionnaire using a test-retest design and informed external observers for verification. Responses from 237 subjects and 200 observers provided evidence that many responses to biodata questionnaire were accurate. Assessed sources of inaccuracy, including social desirability effects, and noted…

A three subscale inventory designed by Fenigstein, Scheier, and Buss to measure self-consciousness was administered to 297 college students. Fenigstein et al.'s representation was found to fit the data in its original form. Items on the subscales differ nearly as much statistically as they do substantively. (Author/LMO)

Assesses the suitability of existing measures of emotional and behavioral disorders among children for use in general populations. Focuses on the definition of emotional and behavioral disorder, measurement approaches, and guidelines for choosing which disorders to study. Seven measurement instruments are evaluated using the folowing criteria:…

Discusses the need to include studies of reliability and maintainability during the design of any system. Topic areas addressed include availability calculations, complex systems and standby redundancy, availability and malfunction levels, design techniques, fault trees, functional maintenance, and others. (DH)

The degree of convergent validity among four methods of identifying vocational preferences is assessed via the decision theoretic paradigm. Vocational preferences identified by Holland's Vocational Preference Inventory (VPI), a rating procedure, and ranking were compared with preferences identified from a policy-capturing model developed from an…

Kindergarten children (N=103) were administered three tests of visual-motor integration: Bender Gestalt Test, Beery Developmental Test of Visual Motor Integration and Geometric Design subtest of the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence. Issues discussed include interscorer reliabilities, correlations among scores, correlations…

A new system for conceptualizing college students' problems, which is more comprehensive and practical than those based solely on DSM-III psychiatric diagnosis, is proposed. Preliminary reliability and validity data for the Inventory of Common Problems are presented, and advantages of the new system are discussed. (Author/MT)

Investigated the relaionships among the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test Revised (PPVT-R) alternate forms and the relationship of each PPVT-R form with the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised (WAIS-R). All correlations with both forms of the PPVT-R were significant. PPVT-R mean scores did underestimate significantly all WAIS-R mean scores.…

Examined whether popular self-report measures of depression could be distinguished from self-report measures of anxiety and social desirability response style. Correlation coefficients indicated strong relationships between measures of depression and anxiety. However, pairs of anxiety and depression measures correlated almost as strongly. All…

A factor analysis was conducted on Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (HOME) item scores of low-income black and white urban mothers of infants 13 to 30 months of age to determine the extent to which the existing subscales were evident in this factor analysis.

The relation between the power of a significance test in a block design with correlated measurements and the reliability of the measuring instrument is analyzed in terms of the components of variance entering the reliability coefficient and the noncentrality parameter. (Author/LMO)

A factor analysis of Fiedler's Least Preferred Co-Worker (LPC) Scale and measure of situational control produced eight factors. Several factors failed to demonstrate internal consistency upon replication. Argues that the LPC and situational control measure are more complex than generally assumed. Suggests further attention to operational…

Reports on the development of two forced-choice, self-report scales for adolescents: Pseudoautonomy and Peer-Group Dependence. Results indicated both scales were significant predictors of group membership (hospitalized or nonhospitalized); the overall classification attempt was correct 73 percent of the time; and the correlation between the scales…

This paper updates the concept of test validity. This new conception entails a set of 10 categories combined together in pairs: curriculum and instructional validity, statutory and forensic validity, media and journalistic validity, political and legislative validity, and partisan and activist validity. (Author/DWH)