Psychometric Characteristics of a Preemployment Screening Device

Abstract

Compu-Scan is a preemployment screening device which considers a job applicant's potential for such undesirable behaviors as substance abuse, theft, and violation of company policy to assign an over-all risk score. A “theft” subscale score may also be derived. This study assessed certain psychometric characteristics of Compu-Scan. Data provided by a private security firm included 445 completed Compu-Scans; 48 persons had also undergone an independent polygraph examination. A coefficient alpha of .84 was obtained for the 91-item “over-all risk” scale; the 43-item “theft” subscale yielded a similar coefficient of .83. Compared with predictions from the polygraph, validity coefficients of .45 and .36 were found for the “over-all” and “theft” scores, respectively. While evidence for the convergent validity of the two scales was noted, substantial method variance was also indicated. These results compare favorably with those reported for similar honesty measures and support the view that preemployment honesty screening is potentially a viable personnel practice.