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Is halo error a property of the rater, ratees, or the specific behaviors observed?

Article Abstract:

The stability of halo errors when the ratees, the specific behavioral episodes observed, or both varied, was studied. In a laboratory study, halo errors were highly unstable when either the ratees or the ratee behaviors varied (average stability coefficients were .20 and .18 when ratee behavior or both ratees and their behavior varied, respectively), but halo errors were moderately stable when the ratee and the specific performance segments viewed were kept constant. In a field study using actual teacher ratings in which the ratee, the ratee's role, or the semester in which ratings were obtained was varied, very low stability coefficients were again found. The results suggest that halo error is not a stable characteristic of the rater or the ratees but rather is partly a characteristic of the unique rating situation. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

Performance, Evaluation

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Rater errors and rating accuracy

Article Abstract:

Meta-analysis was used to determine the relationship between rater error measures and measures of rating accuracy. Data from 10 studies (N = 1,096) were used to estimate correlations between measures of halo, leniency, and range restriction and Cronbach's (1955) four measures of accuracy. The average correlation between error and accuracy was .05. No moderators of the error-accuracy relationship were found. Furthermore, the data are not consistent with the hypothesis that error measures are sometimes valid indicators of accuracy. The average value of the 90th percentile of the distribution of correlations (corrected for attenuation and range restriction) was .11. The use of rater error measures as indirect indicators of accuracy is not recommended. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

Methods, Errors, Scientific, Scientific errors

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Influence of job characteristics on the acceptability of employee drug testing

Article Abstract:

Measures of the acceptability of employee drug testing were obtained from a sample of college students (N = 371) and a second sample of nontraditional, older students (N = 112) and were correlated with job-analysis data from the Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ) and Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT) databases, and with measures of perceived danger from impaired performance in each job. Both PAQ and DOT data accounted for variance in ratings of acceptability. Perceptions of danger were the best single predictor of acceptability and appeared to mediate the relationships between job characteristics and the acceptability of employee drug testing. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

Mandatory drug testing, Drug testing, Employee drug abuse, Job descriptions

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