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Motor Oil or Snake Oil: Synthetic Validity Is a Tool Not a Panacea

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 January 2015

Robert J. Harvey
Robert J. Harvey*
Affiliation:
Virginia Tech
*
E-mail: [email protected], Address: Department of Psychology, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061-0436.
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Extract

The focal article (Johnson et al., 2010) provides a highly upbeat assessment regarding the potential for job component validation (JCV) and J-coefficient methods to “substantially advance the science and practice of industrial and organizational (I-O) psychology through synthetic validity” (emphasis added). It follows on the heels of earlier, similarly enthusiastic endorsements (Jeanneret, 1992; Jeanneret & Strong, 2003; LaPolice, Carter, & Johnson, 2008). For example, LaPolice et al. claimed that the JCV Rs they obtained “are all very close to the maximum correlation for each dependent variable, suggesting that our models are approaching the best possible prediction” (p. 435, emphasis added).

Type
Commentaries
Information
Industrial and Organizational Psychology , Volume 3 , Issue 3 , September 2010 , pp. 351 - 355
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology 2010 

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References

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