Assessment terms beginning with F

This is a measurement glossary, not a general HR glossary. It covers the vocabulary that appears the moment you open a score report or challenge a vendor's claim — reliability, validity, norms, cut scores, item statistics and fairness analysis — because that is the vocabulary buyers are handed without explanation and the one that decides whether a number can carry a decision.

• Face validity

  Face validity is whether a test looks relevant to the people taking it. It is not evidence that the test measures anything, and an instrument can be highly valid with poor face validity or the reverse. It matters anyway, because it drives completion rates, candidate goodwill and whether a hiring manager trusts the result.

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• Four-fifths rule

  Also called 80% rule

  The four-fifths rule is the rule of thumb in the United States Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures: if a group's selection rate is less than four-fifths of the highest group's rate, federal enforcement agencies will generally regard the procedure as having adverse impact. It is a trigger for scrutiny, not a legal verdict.

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