NCJ Number
57734
Date Published
1978
Length
49 pages
Annotation
THE MILITARY POLICE FIREARMS QUALIFICATION COURSE (MPFQC) WAS EVALUATED BY TESTING 237 MILITARY POLICE (MP) STUDENTS FROM 1976 TO 1977. WHILE MPFQC IS EFFECTIVE, SCORES MUST BE USED CAUTIOUSLY.
Abstract
THE PURPOSE OF THIS EXPERIMENT WAS TO EXAMINE THE PROPERTIES OF THE MPFQC, A PRACTICAL COURSE OF INSTRUCTION IN POLICE FIREARMS TRAINING. IT MAY BE CONSIDERED AN ITEM TEST SINCE THERE ARE EIGHT DIFFERENT DISTANCE-POSITIONS COMBINATIONS, OR TABLES, TO BE FIRED. THE SUBJECT USED .45 CALIBER HANDGUNS AND FIRED AT STATIONARY SILHOUETTE TARGETS. EACH STUDENT FIRED A TOTAL OF 240 SHOTS (TRIALS). SUBJECTS HAD COMPLETED PRACTICE FIRING ON THESE TARGETS 1 OR 2 HOURS BEFORE PARTICIPATING IN THE EXPERIMENT. THEY HAD TO HAVE A PRACTICE SCORE OF AT LEAST 35 HITS OUT OF 50 SHOTS. THE TESTS WERE CONDUCTED ON AN OUTDOOR FIRING RANGE FROM NOVEMBER 1976 TO EARLY MARCH 1977. THE RESULTS OF A VARIETY OF ANALYSES LEAD TO THE SINGLE CONCLUSION THAT THIS EIGHT-ITEM TEST CONTAINS TWO DICHOTOMOUS TESTS, THE 'DIFFICULT' AND THE 'EASY'. MARGINAL STUDENTS WHO FAIL THE DIFFICULT TEST MAY NONETHELESS PASS THE ENTIRE TEST BY DOING WELL ON THE EASIER TEST. SINCE NEARLY ALL STUDENTS SCORE WELL ON THE EASY TEST (CLOSE RANGE TARGETS), THE MORE DIFFICULT (LONG RANGE TARGETS), SHOULD BE USED TO SEPARATE THE TRULY PROFICIENT MARKSMEN FROM THOSE WHO ARE MARGINAL. VARIOUS STATISTICAL TESTS AND ASSUMPTIONS USED IN THIS EXPERIMENT ARE APPENDED TO THE REPORT. STATISTICAL TABLES AND REFERENCES ARE INCLUDED. (KCP)