Next-Generation Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB)
Abstract
The United States Air Force (USAF) uses the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) to select recruits and classify them into Air Force Specialties (AFSs). However, a variety of new assessments have been developed and proposed, and assessment time at Military Entrance Processing Stations (MEPS) is limited. As a result, the purpose of this project was to examine the impact of changes to the USAF Mechanical, Administrative, General, and Electronics (MAGE) ASVAB composites to make the best use of testing time. This report describes a series of analyses to evaluate the projected impact of removing technical knowledge subtests from the Mechanical and Electronics composites, and adding subtests to the Administrative and General composites. Impact was primarily investigated in terms of predictive validity and subgroup differences. We found that for the Mechanical and Electronics composites, it was possible to choose alternatives that would likely decrease subgroup differences while not substantially reducing predictive validity. For the Administrative and General composites, differences between existing operational composites and alternatives were also found, but were less pronounced. In sum, this project presents potential alternative MAGE composites that could be implemented depending on the talent management objectives and priorities of the USAF.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 31, 2020
- Accession Number
- AD1116875
Entities
People
- Adam S. Beatty
- Amanda J. Koch
- D. M. Trippe
- Maura I. Burke
Organizations
- Human Resources Research Organization
- Infoscitex Corporation