Blackwell Reference Online

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The checklist method is a behaviorally based approach to performance appraisal that requires raters to observe ratees' behavior and record performance‐related judgments about these behaviors. In this approach to performance appraisal, a list of job‐relevant behaviors is developed. Raters are asked to record (a) whether or not each behavior has been performed by the ratee or (b) the degree to which each item describes the person being evaluated. Several important characteristics of the checklist can help us to appreciate this method. Determining the items to appear on the checklist is driven by a job analysis that identifies the key tasks of the job and/or critical incidents. The resulting checklist reflects the complexity of the job being evaluated. Next, the number of items that will appear on the checklist must be determined. Here the issue is balance, as the developer tries to maximize the comprehensiveness of the checklist without overburdening the rater with too many items to evaluate. Related to these first two issues is the presentation of items. Checklists can arrange items by groups of homogeneous tasks, or the items can be placed throughout the checklist in random order. Organizing the list by groups eases the burden of the rater, but may introduce spurious correlation among checklist items. Finally, the issue of scoring must be addressed. In many instances, a score ... log in or subscribe to read full text