Biodata prediction of municipal police academy performance.

详细信息   

• 作者：Ostrich ; Timothy M.
• 学历：Doctor
• 年：2007
• 导师：Robertson, Donald
• 毕业院校：Indiana University
• 专业：Education, Tests and Measurements.;Psychology, Industrial.;Sociology, Criminology and Penology.;Psychology, Psychometrics.
• CBH：3252061
• Country：USA
• 语种：English
• FileSize：6098501
• Pages：102

文摘

The present study examines the effectiveness of biodata as a predictor of performance for police academy cadets on standard tests administered throughout the course of the academy. Specifically, this study examines biodata's ability to predict performance alone and in conjunction with cognitive and personality test results. In addition, relationships among biodata, cognitive testing, and personality factors are examined.;Proposed biodata factors were examined through a three-stage process. First, 50 randomly selected interviews of applicants to a police academy coordinated by a university in Pennsylvania were coded to evaluate the proposed coding strategy. Next, a second set of 50 randomly selected interviews of academy applicants were coded by two separate evaluators to examine interrater reliability to refine coding strategies for biodata variables. Finally, scores from the Nelson-Denny Reading Composite and NEO-PI-R five factors, as well as data from individual interviews, were collected from the files of 96 police academy cadets. A factor analysis was conducted on biodata variables, and results of the analyses were utilized to obtain factor scores for each cadet. Academy performance, as measured by the average academy test score for cadets, served as the primary criterion of interest in the present study. In addition, through the use of factor analysis, academy tests were divided into academic and applied categories. Average scores of each academy test factor were then calculated and also utilized as criterion measures of academy performance. Hierarchical regressions were conducted to determine the effectiveness of biodata factors in the prediction of academy performance both alone and combined with measures of cognitive and personality functioning.;Results indicated biodata is equally effective in predicting academy performance when compared to measures of cognitive ability and personality characteristics. Further, biodata supplies a modest amount of incremental validity in the prediction of academy performance once measures of cognition and personality are partialled out. Correlational data reveals biodata factors generally tap unique aspects of cadets outside of those assessed by the Nelson-Denny and NEO-PI-R. Reliability analyses indicated most biodata variables demonstrated strong interrater reliability.