Reading Grade Level of the London House Personnel Selection Inventory Series (PSI)

Abstract

A series of readability analyses were conducted on the London House Personnel Selection Inventory, using the SMOG Index (McLaughlin, 1969) for the determination of reading grade level. The SMOG Index, a regression-derived formula, was calculated first by determining the number of polysyllabic words occurring in a subsample of 30 text passages. Then, the reading grade level required for comprehension of the entire text was determined. The results indicated that each of the nine versions of the London House Personnel Selection Inventory (PSI) is readable at the seventh grade educational level. In addition, each survey item of one version of the PSI was analyzed using a modified version of the SMOG Index. The results of this analysis also yielded the same seventh grade level of reading difficulty as the first SMOG analyses. It was concluded that the majority of those screened for employment with the survey typically exceed the reading comprehension levels of the average seventh grade student; and the jobs for which they are screened require at least that level of reading comprehension.