4 8 
EMPLOYMENT PSYCHOLOGY 
interest. It would have been practically impossible, with 
out a much larger clerical force than was available at the 
time, to follow up closely the results of each individual 
selection. Instead, therefore, of attempting a superficial 
survey of all those selected, it was decided to make an in 
tensive study of all selections made for one shop. One of 
the largest and most carefully managed shops was chosen 
for this purpose. A careful record of the production of 
each girl examined and hired for this shop was started, 
in order that her record in the tests might later be com 
pared with her actual work as an inspector. However, 
when these tests were first given, there was a sudden and 
imperative demand for workers, and consequently, appli 
cants were accepted whether they passed the tests or not. 
This provided an exceptional opportunity for discovering 
the value of the tests and of comparing the results of the 
old method with that of the new. For it now became 
possible to discover to what extent the girls who passed 
the examination were better than those who did not. 
Subsequently the recommendations made on the basis 
of the tests were observed, and only those who met the 
standard requirements were hired. 
Before a sufficiently extensive record of production was 
at hand, a question arose as to whether the results of the 
tests justified their use. This question arose because the 
exigencies of the war made a vast number of new workers 
necessary, and because this need was being aggravated 
by the fact that an appreciable number of applicants were 
being rejected because of too low a rating in the psycho 
logical examination. A large proportion of those rejected 
in this way were assigned to other work; but there was still 
a considerable number who refused to accept any other 
kind of work, and who were therefore regarded as a dead