History and development of the Schmidt-Hunter meta-analysis methods

Area of Science:

• Psychometrics
• Organizational Psychology
• Research Methodology

Background:

• The US Office of Personnel Management (OPM) initiated research in the 1970s on personnel selection.
• Low statistical power in validity studies necessitated improved methods for demonstrating test validity, particularly due to legal challenges.
• The development of meta-analysis methods, initially termed validity generalization, was a response to these needs.

Observation:

• Variability in validity estimates across studies was primarily attributed to sampling error and research artifacts.
• Key artifacts identified included variations in range restriction and measurement error.
• Corrections for these artifacts were applied in original research and subsequent replications.

Findings:

• Corrected validity estimates indicated that most tests exhibit high predictive validity.
• The predictive validity of tests was found to be generalizable across different contexts.
• These findings challenged established beliefs within the field.

Implications:

• The Schmidt-Hunter meta-analysis methods have evolved since their inception in the 1970s.
• Subsequent publications in 1982, 1990, 2004, and 2014 expanded the application of these methods.
• The methods are now widely applied across diverse research areas, demonstrating their broad utility and impact.