APPLICATION OF CONTENT VALIDITY METHODS TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF A JOB-RELATED PERFORMANCE RATING CRITERION

This study demonstrated the use of quantitative content validity procedures in the development of a job-related behavioral rating scale criterion for entry-level psychiatric aides. Work behavior items were developed by staff from 6 state psychiatric hospitals, placed in a content validity questionnaire using the Lawshe format, and given to a representative sample of 38 aides and supervisors. Seventy-eight of 83 items were found to be significantly job-relevant using the computation procedures of both Lawshe and Aiken. After the significant items were grouped into 4 categories with high interjudge agreement and placed in a rating scale format, ratings were obtained on 72 psychiatric aides from 4 hospitals. Items in the 4 categories were found to be internally consistent using coefficient alpha. Significant but low concurrent validities were established for 2 verbal ability selection tests using the rating criterion. The validities found were interpreted to be especially significant when the factors of low selection ratio, restriction in range, and limited rater training were considered.     

JOB-RELATEDNESS OF A POSTTRAINING JOB KNOWLEDGE CRITERION USE TO ASSESS VALIDITY AND TEST FAIRNESS

Significant job-relatedness was found for a posttraining job knowledge test criterion using an application of Lawshe's content validity method. The aide test was used as a criterion to assess the predictive validity of a vocabulary test and a civil service test with samples of black ( N = 43) and white ( N = 62) psychiatric aides. Significant validities were found on both tests, but a vocabulary test proved to be the better predictor of the criterion in both samples. The obtained validities were discussed in terms of differential validity, test fairness, and sample size. This study demonstrated that a content validity method could be applied to criteria as well as selection tests. It was concluded that content validity methods may be able to help solve the problem of criterion relevance in validation research by providing quantitative evidence of the job-relatedness of criteria.