Testing for Administrative and Supervisory Positions
Abstract
Testing for Administrative and Supervisory Positions SAGE Publications, Inc.1945DOI: 10.1177/001316444500500302 Milton Mandell United States Civil Service Commission, Washington, D. C. THE field of testing for administrative and supervisory positions is one which is approached by many psychometricians with a feeling of defeatism. A number of studies have been made to determine which testing methods will improve the selection of administrators and supervisors but, in general, psychometricians have tended to stay away from this phase of testing. The reasons for this situation are well summarized in Dr. L. L. Thurstone's statement: The intellectual and temperamental qualities that insure success in administrative work are probably more complex than almost any other group of abilities that can be thought of. Psychologists who investigate fundamental human traits would undoubtedly seek to investigate first those traits which can be assumed to be less complex.l Although the complexity of the task of experimenting in this field is recognized, there still exists in industry, in the Army and Navy, and in government, the problem of selecting persons for supervisory and administrative positions. With a labor force, both civilian and military, of about 60,000,000 in the U. S., one can roughly estimate the existence of about