Factorial Validity of the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB), Forms 8, 9 and 10: 1981 Army Applicant Sample

Abstract

The purpose of this paper was to examine the factor structure of the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB), Forms 8, 9, and 10. This standardized multiple cognitive abilities battery is the primary selection and classification instrument used by all military services. It consists of eight power and two speed tests. In this investigation the ASVAB 8/9/10 factor structure was compared with that observed for previous samples and for previous forms of the ASVAB. The similarity of factor structure for racial/ethnic and sex subgroups was examined for the purpose of establishing the possible invariance of ASVAB factorial validity across groups. A factor analysis of a sample of 98,689 male and female Army applicants yielded four orthogonal factors accounting for 93% of the total variance: Verbal Ability, Speeded Performance, Quantitative Ability, and Technical Knowledge. Factor analyses of male, female, white, black, and Hispanic subgroups yielded similar results. These analyses provided evidence of the replicability of ability constructs across diverse samples.