PREDICTION OF JOB PERFORMANCE DIMENSIONS - POLICE OFFICERS

• NCJ Number: 46185
• Journal: Public Personnel Management Volume: G Issue: 3 Dated: (MAY-JUNE 1977) Pages: 173-180
• Author(s): W W RONAN; T L TALBERT; G M MULLET
• Date Published: 1977
• Length: 8 pages
• Grant Number(s): 74 GA 08-C (09)
• Sponsoring Agency: US Civil Service Cmssn
• Corporate Author: International Personnel Management Assoc
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

THE PROCESS OF CONSTRUCTING PSYCHOMETRIC MEASURES FOR JOB DIMENSIONS DERIVED FROM JOB ANALYSES IS DESCRIBED.

Abstract

ONE METHOD OF JOB ANALYSIS USED IN THE STUDY WAS THE CRITICAL INCIDENT TECHNIQUE (CIT). INCIDENTS DESCRIBING BOTH EFFECTIVE AND INEFFECTIVE JOB PERFORMANCE WERE PROVIDED BY POLICE OFFICERS RANDOMLY SELECTED IN EACH OF FOUR JURISDICTIONS. SOME 550 SUCH INCIDENTS WERE COLLECTED. A SECOND JOB ANALYSIS WAS COMPLETED, USING SUPERVISORY PERSONNEL AS RESPONDENTS, WITH THE POSITION ANALYSIS QUESTIONNAIRE (PAQ). THE CIT DATA WERE USED TO CONSTRUCT THE JOB DIMENSIONS OF POLICE OFFICER WORK; AND THE PAQ PRIMARILY IN JUDGING APPROPRIATE SELECTION INSTRUMENTS. THE OBTAINED PERFORMANCE INCIDENTS WERE CATEGORIZED AS RECOMMENDED IN THE CIT PROCEDURE, AND OVER 90 PERCENT AGREEMENT WAS OBTAINED AMONG 3 JUDGES. SEVENTEEN DIMENSIONS OF JOB DUTIES AND SKILLS WERE DERIVED. THE INTENT OF THE RESEARCH WAS TO CONSTRUCT A TEST FOR EACH OF THE 17 DIMENSIONS. TWO SETS OF TESTS WERE DEVELOPED, LABELED PHYSICAL AND COGNITIVE. THE MEASURES WERE INTERCORRELATED AND FACTOR ANALYZED TO REVEAL FOUR IDENTIFIABLE FACTORS -- WORK HISTORY, PHYSICAL TESTS, COGNITIVE TESTS, AND SUPERVISORY RATING. THE TEST WERE ADMINISTERED TO AND WORK HISTORY DATA COLLECTED FOR 296 POLICE OFFICERS. THE VALIDITIES FOR EACH OF THE FOUR CRITERIA WERE CALCULATED USING STEPWISE MULTIPLE REGRESSION SEPARATELY FOR THE PSYCHOMETRIC MEASURES AND FOR THE BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION BLANKS. IT IS NOTED THAT POSSIBLY THE MOST INTERESTING POINT IN THE DATA IS THE INDICATION THAT THOSE OFFICERS WHO SCORE HIGH ON JOB SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE ARE ALSO THOSE WITH LOW ACCIDENT, ABSENTEEISM, AND OTHER UNDESIRABLE WORK HISTORY RECORDS. THE BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION ITEMS SHOW SUBSTANTIAL CORRELATIONS WITH ALL OF THE CRITERIA, IN PARTICULAR THE JOB TESTS AND WORK HISTORY. IT IS INDICATED THAT THIS RESEARCH IS INTENDED TO BE EXPLORATORY. TABLES SHOWING THE INTERCORRELATIONS OF THE FOUR CRITERIA ARE INCLUDED. (RCB)