XVIII
ECONOMIC VALUE OF THE EXAMINATIONS
Necessity for comparison of old and new methods of selection. Relative
predictive accuracy. Relative economic value.
WILL it pay to use the scientific selection method? The
relative cost of installing and using improved methods of
selecting employees and the economic savings to the man-
agement which follow from their adoption are matters which
the investigator cannot ignore. He may have established
the validity of the new methods, but to justify their installa-
tion he must interpret them to the management in economic
terms. He will be asked, first, whether the new methods
give more dependable predictions than the old, and second,
whether the net savings are greater in view of relative cost.
To answer the first of these questions, the investigator
must compare the validity of the new method of selecting
employees with the one previously in use. The same stand-
ards of evaluation must be applied to both. It is possible
that the old method may have greater accuracy than the
new. There are grounds for believing that a scientific
method of selection has greater validity than an unscientific
one, but it is unscientific to make an a priori assumption to
this effect.
The second question requires for its answer a comparison
of methods from the economic standpoint. The investigator
should estimate, as well as available cost data permit, the
relative expense of administering the old and the new pro-
cedures and the savings which the use of the more valid
method makes possible.
In making his report to the management, the investigator’s
case for scientific selection must be presented from these two
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