NCJ Number
37863
Date Published
1976
Length
230 pages
Annotation
THE PURPOSE OF THE PROJECT DESCRIBED IN THIS REPORT WAS TO DESIGN, DEVELOP, AND VALIDATE A TEST THAT WOULD BE JOB RELATED AND CAPABLE OF BEING USED IN THE SELECTION OF ENTRY-LEVEL OFFICERS THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES.
Abstract
THIS REPORT DESCRIBES STEP-BY-STEP FIRST, THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE TEST AND PROCEDURES FOLLOWED TO ENSURE THAT IT WOULD BE JOB RELATED; AND SECOND, THE PERFORMANCE ON THE EXPERIMENTAL TEST BY POLICE OFFICERS IN FOUR CITIES. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR AN OPERATIONAL TEST ARE BASED ON THE RESULTS OF THE USE OF THE PRETEST IN FOUR CONCURRENT VALIDITY STUDIES. THE TEST WAS DEVELOPED BY IDENTIFYING THE SKILLS AND ABILITIES REQUIRED TO PERFORM THE TASKS OF POLICE OFFICERS; GROUPING THE TASKS INTO CLUSTERS TO DEFINE 14 JOB DIMENSIONS; ANALYZING THESE DIMENSIONS BY RACE, JOB LEVEL, AND SITE; AND MATCHING THEM WITH A SET OF 22 INTELLECTUAL ABILITIES. AS A RESULT OF THIS PROCESS 12 INTELLECTUAL ABILITIES WERE IDENTIFIED TO BE MEASURED IN THE TEST. THE BULK OF THIS REPORT CONSISTS OF AN EXTENSIVE APPENDIX CONTAINING THE TASKS CHECKLIST, ABILITY DESCRIPTION FORM, WRITTEN TEST SPECIFICATIONS, FORMS USED IN THE VERIFICATION OF TASKS, AND TABULAR DATA ON THE CORRELATIONS OF LENGTH OF SERVICE, PERFORMANCE RATING, LENGTH OF SERVICE, LEVEL OF EDUCATION, TEST SITE, AND RACE WITH VALIDATION TEST SCORES. A PRE-EXAMINATION CANDIDATE PREPARATION BOOKLET ACCOMPANIES THIS REPORT. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED)