Comparison of the Rare Response and Vertical Percent Methods for Scoring the Biographical Information Blank

Abstract

This study investigated the relative effectiveness of two methods for scoring biographical information blanks. Data from five separate samples were weighted using the vertical percent method advocated by England (1971) and the rare response method suggested by Telenson, Alexander, and Barrett (1983). The results revealed that vertical percent scoring yielded significant validity coefficients for all five samples, while rare response scoring yielded significant validity coefficients for only two of the five samples. The results were discussed in terms of future applications for constructing valid biographical information blanks.