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Best Practice Recommendations for Situational Judgment Tests

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 September 2015

Stefanie Pollard  and
Helena D. Cooper-Thomas
Stefanie Pollard
Affiliation:
Talegent, Auckland, New Zealand
Helena D. Cooper-Thomas*
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, The University of Auckland, New Zealand
*
Address for correspondence: Helena D. Cooper-Thomas, School of Psychology, The University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland 1142, New Zealand. Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

Situational judgement tests (SJTs) are increasingly popular as part of selection procedures because of their strong psychometric properties. SJTs present test takers with job-related situations and a series of potential responses. The aim of this review article is to provide evidence-based recommendations for practitioners who are considering implementing SJTs for their clients, as well as offering an analysis of some key issues for academics. This research provides a review of the literature on SJTs to answer three questions: (1) What is the difference between framing questions either as what should you do versus what would you do? (2) What is the difference between multimedia-based and text-based SJTs? (3) What is the best process for SJT creation? Following this, recommendations are provided as follows: That responses are optimally framed in terms of what a respondent thinks s/he should do, not what s/he would do; that multimedia-based SJTs are used in preference to text-based SJTs; and a ‘best practice’ process for creating an SJT is outlined. Finally, the review includes a discussion of implications for creating tests that are inclusive of different ethnic groups, as well as ethical issues relating to the use of SJTs in selection.

Keywords

situational judgment testSJTselectionitem stemvalidity
Type
Articles
Information
The Australasian Journal of Organisational Psychology , Volume 8 , 2015 , e7
Copyright
Copyright © Australian Psychological Society Ltd 2015 

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