Differential test validity for ethnic groups in the Israel army and the effects of educational level.

Abstract

The stud}' examines validities of intelligence test scores for predicting achievement for 7,000 males over a 2i-year period of military service in Israel. Specifically, the study examines whether differential test validity occurs in a very heterogeneous population by comparing validities for three ethnic subgroups, namely, those born in Israel, in Western, or in Eastern countries. Considerable differential validity was found. However, within separate educational levels, this effect was largely eliminated. It is suggested that differential ethnic validity, when it occurs, may sometimes be usefully circumvented by using education as a predictor. The theoretical and practical implications are discussed.The question of test fairness-whether test scores represent potential to the same extent for different ethnic groups-has received considerable attention in recent years. On the face of it, the content of tests commonly used for personnel selection would not seem to be completely equivalent in their relevance for different groups (Vernon, 1969); particularly in the social-economic and ethnic circumstances of the United States, test fairness has become more than a theoretical problem. Clearly, many influences are involved, and "the extent of such influences is a matter for empirical determination rather than for a priori assumption" (Anastasi, 19SO, p, 77). Consequently, manifestations of nonequivalence have been extensively sought in recent years and have merited special attention in two Annual Review of Psychology articles on personnel selection (Ash & Kroeker, 197S, pp. 486-489; Bray & Moses, 1972, pp. S47-SSS).Because of the breadth of the problem,The material for this research was accumulated while the author was employed by the Research Department of the Israel Defence Forces Manpower Branch, to whom thanks are expressed for permission to publish it. The findings and opinions expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Israel Defence Forces.Thanks are also expressed to the Bar-Han University Computer Center, and particularly to M. Snyder, who developed the program for the comparison of regression lines and helped in interpreting its results.Requests for reprints should be sent to M.

Revival of test bias research in preemployment testing.

“…Also, the same conclusion has been reached regarding majority and minority groups classified according to socioeconomic status (e.g., Canivez & Konold, 2001) and entirely different ethnicity classifications outside of the United States. Examples include research conducted in the Netherlands comparing groups of Native Dutch (comparison group) with Turks, North Africans, Surinamese, Netherlands Antilleans, and former Yugoslavs (e.g., Te Nijenhuis & Van der Flier, 2000Flier, , 2004; research conducted in Israel including groups of individuals born in Israel (comparison group) with those born in Eastern countries (i.e., mainly Middle Eastern Arab countries and North Africa) and in Western countries (i.e., mainly Eastern and Central Europe; Reeb, 1976); and research conducted in South Africa including groups of non-Black Africans (comparison group) and Black Africans (Rushton, Skuy, & Bons, 2004).…”

Effects of Team Composition On Ranked Team Effectiveness

“…The composite score has consistently shown a satisfactory and stable level of predictive validity (r = .40) in army tasks (Reeb, 1976). This is comparable with other ability measures reported in the literature (e.g., Ghiselli, 1973).…”

Occupational Congruence and Personal Task-Related Attributes: How Do They Relate to Work Performance?

“…Overall intelligence score. This measure, which is one of the components of the general ability score, is described in detail by Gal (1981), and both the measure and its validity are described in Reeb (1969Reeb ( , 1976. As noted above, it is a composite obtained by a version of Raven's Matrix and an Otis-type test.…”