ABSTRACT
The real power and usefulness of biodata stems not simply from providing interesting profiles of job candidates or employees, but from the ability of biodata keys to predict future job performance. The 'narrative studies' have attempted to bring together results of research across different organizations to determine if there are any trends in the criterion-related validity of biodata. Narrative reviews one important insight into the criterion-related validity of biodata but they are severely limited in one sense -they may be insensitive to some of the statistical artefacts that can cause differences between studies, such as the effects of 'differential range restriction'. Dyer investigated factors associated with university success and first-year job performance among health care trainees and workers. Age can distort weighted application blank (WAB)/biodata scoring; older men tend to have more dependents, higher living expenses and to belong to more organizations than younger men, so a WAB using age-related items for subjects with diverse age could give misleading results.
