Characteristics of Valid Biographical Items

Abstract

This study assessed the relationships between characteristics of biographical items from the Armed Services Applicant Profile and the items' validity in predicting the retention of enlisted military personnel. Item characteristics were appraised with ratings by expert judges and test takers, word and alternative counts, and response latencies. Item content was also appraised with ratings by expert judges. The more valid items involved overt behavior or experiences, dealt with discrete behavior or experiences, and had heterogeneous content. After controlling for item content, only the latter characteristic was related to validity. Item characteristics and item content interacted in several instances.Despite the long history and wide use of biographical inventories (see recent reviews by Breaugh,