Cj. Russell et al., INVESTIGATOR CHARACTERISTICS AS MODERATORS OF PERSONNEL-SELECTION RESEARCH - A METAANALYSIS, Journal of applied psychology, 79(2), 1994, pp. 163-170
Surrogate measures of original authors' reward context, primary motiva
tion for doing the research, and knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA
s) were examined for their affect on criterion-related validities repo
rted in the Journal of Applied Psychology and Personnel Psychology bet
ween 1964 and 1992. Number of years of experience (a surrogate KSA mea
sure) displayed no moderating relationship. Type of organizational nee
d (equal employment opportunity compliance, augmenting existing select
ion system, etc.) and investigator interests (e.g., theory testing) we
re related to criterion-related validities. Place of authors' employme
nt (i.e., reward context) also displayed a moderating relationship (au
thors in private industry reported higher average validities in compar
ison with academics). Interaction effects on criterion-related validit
ies were found between authors' experience and (a) place of employment
and (b) primary motivation for conducting the research. Results are i
nterpreted in view of possible differences in ability, motivation, and
opportunity to do research across employment settings.