What are some key ethical dilemmas facing HR managers in terms of using selection tests?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

One of the key questions is “Should the test be used for that purpose?” There are few prescriptions for how to proceed here, but one recommendation is to contrast the potential social consequences of the proposed testing with the potential social consequences of alternative procedures and even of procedures antagonistic to testing (such as not testing at all). Such a strategy draws attention to vulnerabilities in the proposed use and exposes its value assumptions to open debate.
Should individuals be denied access to a test because prior knowledge of test items may decrease the test’s validity? Yes, if the results are used in making decisions about them; no, if the results do not affect them in any way. “Truth in testing” legislation in New York and California requires that college and graduate school entrance tests and correct answers be made public within 30 days after the results are distributed. It also requires testing services to provide a graded answer sheet to students who request it. Someday other laws may affect employment. While the Standards for Educational and Psychological Measurement (AERA, APA, & NCME, 2014) do not require that test items be made public, they do make clear that the individual whose future is affected by a career decision based on test results is among those with a “right to know” the test results used to make the decision. Such information should describe in simple language what the test covers, what the scores mean, common misinterpretations of test scores, and how the scores will be used.