Abstract

Three primary sources of authoritative information and guidance that can be relied upon in the development, validation, and implementation of an employment selection procedure are the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing (American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association, & National Council on Measurement in Education, 2014; Standards), the Principles for the Validation and Use of Personnel Selection Procedures (Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 2003; Principles), and the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Civil Service Commission, Department of Justice, & Department of Labor, 1978; Uniform Guidelines). The term selection procedure in this instance should be interpreted broadly to include any process or information used in personnel decision making. Selection procedures would include (but not be limited to) all forms and types of tests (e.g., cognitive, personality, work samples, and assessment centers), interviews, job performance appraisals, and measures of potential. These procedures may be administered, scored, and interpreted as paper-and-pencil or computer-based instruments and/or by individuals internal or external to the organization. This broad view is consistent with the interpretations expressed by the authoritative sources. The term “test” is often used in one of the sources. For the purposes of this chapter, a test is synonymous with a selection procedure.