Glossary

Battery

• A battery of tests is a set of independent tests taken together. Each test may assess a different construct, and the scores are NOT added together in a battery of tests.

Candidate

• A candidate is a person who has been assigned and/or completed a Ramsay test.
  See also: Examinee.

Category (Categories)

• Test questions are organized into knowledge areas called Categories. Sample category headings might be Hydraulics, Pneumatics, and Print Reading. A Category is sometimes called a Test Section.

Cut Score

• A Cut Score, also known as a Qualification Score, is the minimum score that a qualified candidate should achieve. Companies purchasing tests must determine what score demonstrates acceptable proficiency. Ramsay Corporation develops Cut Scores for those companies that have contracted with us to do a validation study specifically for them.

Entries

• When an examinee has taken a paper-and-pencil form of a test, the responses can be entered into the Online Entry System as a method of scoring the test. Each examinee whose test is scored in this manner is considered an entry.

Examinee

• An examinee is a person who has completed a Ramsay test.

No. of Items

• The number of test questions on the test, not including the Practice Exercises.

Percentile Rank

• Local Percentile Rank

  • An examinee’s test score is compared to scores of other examinees from the same company who have taken the same test.

• National Percentile Rank

  • An examinee’s test score is compared to scores of all other examinees who have taken the same test including those from other companies.

Qualification Score

• See: Cut Score

Qualification Statistics Report

• Adverse Impact

  • A substantially different rate of selection in hiring, promotion, or other employment decisions which work to the disadvantage of members of a race, gender, or ethnic group.
  • EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) standards use the “80% Rule” to determine adverse impact. A protected group should have a pass rate equal to at least 80% of an unprotected group.
  • For example, 200 examinees identify themselves as “White” and 20 examinees identify themselves as “Asian.” 100 or 50% of the “White” examinees pass the test. If 10 “Asian” examinees (50%) pass the test, the test has the same pass rate among the “White” and “Asian” examinees. If 8 “Asian” examinees pass the test, the 80% rule is satisfied because the passing rate of the “Asian” examinees was 80% of the passing rate of the “White” group.

• Average

  • Average is a measure of central tendency which is sometimes considered “middle.” The calculation for average is the sum of all values divided by the number of values. Time used to take the test and test scores are evaluated using this calculation.

• Average Time

  • The average amount of time all examinees took to complete the test.

  • Average Failing Time

    • The average amount of time that examinees who failed (did not achieve a score meeting or exceeding the qualifying score) the test took to complete the test.

  • Average Qualified Time

    • The average amount of time that examinees who passed (achieved a score meeting or exceeding the qualifying score) the test took to complete the test.

  • Average Score

    • The average of the raw scores of all of the examinees.

• Class

  • A class is a group of people with whom an examinee is identified with. This demographic information is used to evaluate whether or not a test is shown to have adverse impact. Examinees may voluntarily provide this information.

• More Data Required

  • More examinees need to take the test before conclusions regarding adverse impact can be drawn.

• No. of People

  • The number of examinees who have taken the test.

• Sample Size

  • The number of examinees who have identified themselves as being a member of a certain class.

Raw Score

• The number of test questions that an examinee answered correctly.

Section

• See Category

View Qualification

• When “Show” is clicked under View Qualification, a Qualification Report will appear. This report includes the name of the examinee and whether or not the examinee is qualified.
• This report will have value to those companies who have determined a Qualification Score (also known as a Cut Score).

View Scores

• When “Show” is clicked under View Scores, an Individual Scoring Report will appear. This report details an examinee’s Raw Score along with Percentile Ranks for each test section and the total test. There is also a graphic representation of the examinee’s score in relation to other examinees who have taken the same test.