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EMPLOYMENT  PSYCHOLOGY

psychological  tests.  It  has  been  seen  how  the  use  of  tests
makes  it  possible  to  compare  applicants  in  an  exact  way
with  each  other  and  with  a  mathematically  exact  standard
which  has  been  experimentally  determined  beforehand.
The  observational  method  does  not  provide  such  standards, ­
  and  makes  it  impossible  to  compare  people  with
each  other  except  in  the  crudest  way.  Nor  does  it  provide ­
  a  standard  type,  based  upon  a  careful-job  analysis,  to
which  applicants  can  be  compared.  Sometimes,  the  picture ­
  of  a  man,  well  known  as  a  success  in  a  particular
field,  is  given  as  an  example.  But  such  pictures  are  not
scientific  standards,  and  can  not  be  used  as  a  basis  for
making  measurements  and  exact  comparisons.  The
pictures  of  George  Washington  and  Abraham  Lincoln
can  not  be  used  as  a  guide  in  the  election  of  other  presidents. ­
  Moreover,  it  is  absurd  to  expect  an  observer  to
carry  standards  in  his  head,  and  to  compare  sizes,  colors,
textures  and  so  on  in  his  mind.  This  is  the  very  antithesis
of  the  scientific  method.
Finally,  the  method  of  observation  described  does
not  rise  above  describing  character  in  terms  of  generalities ­
  and  abstract  personal  qualities.  Since  its  fundamental ­
  measurements  are  of  the  crudest  sort,  the  terms
in  which  it  estimates  people  are  necessarily  equally
crude.  The  great  variety  of  distinctions  and  the  many
concrete  differences  in  abilities  which  must  be  taken  into
account  in  modern  industry  are  covered  here  only  by
generalities.  It  may  be  that  observation  is  better  calculated ­
  to  bring  out  the  extreme  differences  between
men,  to  select  the  genius  or  the  exceptional  man  from
among  the  large  and  colorless  mediocre  class.  This  would
indeed  be  a  boon  to  mankind.  However,  a  scientific
procedure  which  can  attain  to  this  height  has  not  yet  been