Selection testing via the Internet: Practical considerations and exploratory empirical findings

Despite a growing body of applied research on using the Internet for some human resource management practices, few studies have provided equivalence information or practical lessons concerning selection testing via the Internet. We identify several issues associated with measurement and validity, the role of several individual characteristics, respondents' reactions and behaviors, and other considerations concerning Internet test administration. We also report results from an exploratory study of the correlation between paper-and-pencil and Internet-administered cognitively oriented selection tests (including timed and untimed, proctored tests). Our empirical results suggest modest degrees of cross-mode equivalence for an untimed situational judgment test (r =.84) and for a timed cognitive ability test (r =.60). Further, some types of items (math, verbal, spatial) in the timed cognitive ability test seem to play a differential role in the reduced cross-mode equivalence. New issues regarding the perception of, and reaction to, items presented via the Internet are presented, and a variety of practical issues are derived and discussed.