Hocus-pocus and hydraulics functions: Anything not worth doing is not worth doing well

Abstract

It was nice to see a step back from the inflated validities (e.g., Sackett, Zhang, Berry, & Lievens, 2022) promoted by many meta-analysts. Still, the use of corrected validities for purposes of selection is a dubious practice. Although the mistake of correcting for range restriction of unrestricted samples is now apparent, other problems—both technical and legal—still abound. I briefly review works (most of which are more than 40 years old) that describe these challenges. I then provide suggestions for practitioners and researchers. Ultimately, the quote from Robert Fulghum seems appropriate: “Anything not worth doing is worth not doing well.”