An Investigation of Possible Test Bias in the Navy Basic Test Battery
Abstract
The research investigated whether racial bias exists in the Navy Basic Test Battery (BTB), used to assign recruits to technical schools. BTB scores and school grades were obtained for approximately 105,000 whites and 2, 000 blacks attending A-Schools in 1969-1970. Sufficient numbers of blacks attended 24 schools for statistical analysis of their test scores and standardized school grades. The findings and conclusions were as follows: The means of the white and black samples were significantly different for both the school grade criterion and the predictor tests, with whites scoring higher than blacks on all variables; The regression lines of each race differed significantly. If single BTB tests were used in selection, overprediction of minority performance would be somewhat more common than underprediction. The tests more accurately predicted the grades of white students than of black. The selection composites were valid predictors of the performance of white students in all schools and for black students in half of the school. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 01, 1972
- Accession Number
- AD0749697
Entities
People
- Patricia J. Thomas
Organizations
- United States Naval Research Laboratory