The validity of a national certification examination for clinical laboratory scientists was examined usingfive of Cronbach 's eight suggested procedures for construct validity. The 199-item examination was completed by (111) clinical laboratory practitioners from 40 laboratories throughout the United States. Their scores were compared to their competence level (most, average, minimal) as determined by their laboratory managers. A correlation coefficient of .406 indicated a fairly strong relationship between competence level and examination score. Four otherfactorsshowed correlation with practitioners' performance: education level, age, size of laboratory staff, and workload.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
American Society for Medical Technology
(1981/1976) "Statements of competence of clinical laboratory practitioners (nonphyslician)."Am. J. of Medical Technology47, 8: 647-652. (originally published 1976).
2.
American Psychological Association (1974) Standards for Education and Psychological Tests. Report prepared by joint committee of APA, AERA, and NCME, Washington, DC.
3.
CRONBACH, L.
(1970) Essentials of Psychological Testing (3rd ed.) New York: Harper and Row.
4.
CRONBACH, L.
and P. MEEHL (1955) "Construct validity in psychological tests."Psych. Bull.52: 281-302.
5.
National Certification Agency for Medical Laboratory Personnel
(1979) NCA Examination Development. Washington, DC: Author.
6.
THORNDIKE, R.
and E. HAGEN (1977) Measurement and Evaluation in Psychology and Education. New York: John Wiley.
7.
United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
(1978) "Guidelines on employee selection procedures."Federal Register43, 166: 38290-38309.
