Brief Biography
Frank Leo Schmidt was born in 1944 in Louisville, Kentucky, and raised on a farm in a small nearby community.
In college, Schmidt initially studied biology at Bellarmine College (now Bellarmine University) in Louisville, Kentucky. After two years, he switched his major to psychology, receiving his bachelor’s degree in that subject in 1966.
For graduate school, Schmidt attended Purdue University in West Lafayette, Kentucky. He earned his master’s degree in industrial psychology from Purdue in 1968 and his PhD in 1970.
Upon graduation, in 1970, Schmidt landed his first academic job as Assistant Professor of Industrial Psychology at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan.
At the time, Michigan State was an epicenter of anti–Vietnam War protests. Schmidt has described it as a “war zone.” However, he took the job anyway.
It was at Michigan State that Schmidt met his future close collaborator, John E. (“Jack”) Hunter.
In 1974, Schmidt took a job with the US Civil Services Commission, now known as the Office of Personnel Management, in Washington, DC. He held the position until 1985.
During this time, Schmidt also had an adjunct appointment at George Washington University in Washington, DC. His job title was Research Professor of Industrial Psychology.
During the 1982 academic year, Schmidt also served as Visiting Professor at the Australian Graduate School of Management, Sydney, Australia.
In 1985, Schmidt was appointed the Gary C. Fethke Chair in Leadership in the Department of Management and Organizations in the Tippie College of Business at the University of Iowa, in Iowa City. Schmidt remained at Iowa until his retirement in 2012.
Schmidt’s career was devoted primarily to meta-analysis: that is, analyzing the validity of various statistical methods used in psychological research, with a view to “avoiding the lies that data tell,” as he liked to put it.
Schmidt published more than 200 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters.
He also wrote or edited several books, most notably, the widely used textbook he co-authored with Jack Hunter, Methods of Meta-Analysis: Correcting Error and Bias in Research Findings(1992; third edition, 2014).
Schmidt did in 2021 at the age of 77.
Notable Quotes
Note: The original sources of the following quotations attributed here to Frank L. Schmidt are provided where known. If no specific source is mentioned, then the attributed quotation may be assumed to derive from or (perhaps via paraphrase) be inspired by Schmidt’s many academic and popular writings.
Diversity
Diversity in the workplace is not only a moral imperative but also a strategic advantage.
Human Capital
The most valuable resource of any organization is its people.
The most effective organizations are those that invest in the development and utilization of their human capital.
The key to success in any organization lies in identifying and nurturing talent.
Industrial/Organizational Psychology
Validity generalization has emerged as one of the most important developments in personnel psychology.
“The validity and utility of selection methods in personnel psychology: Practical and theoretical implications of 85 years of research findings,” with John E. Hunter, Psychological Bulletin, 1998, 124: 262–274.
By combining various predictors, it is possible to substantially increase the validity of selection systems.
“The validity and utility of selection methods in personnel psychology: Practical and theoretical implications of 85 years of research findings,” with John E. Hunter, Psychological Bulletin, 1998, 124: 262–274.
The best-known fact in the history of personnel selection research is that general mental ability is a strong predictor of job performance.
“The validity and utility of selection methods in personnel psychology: Practical and theoretical implications of 85 years of research findings,” with John E. Hunter, Psychological Bulletin, 1998, 124: 262–274.
In general, the higher the validity coefficient, the more useful the predictor.
“The validity and utility of selection methods in personnel psychology: Practical and theoretical implications of 85 years of research findings,” with John E. Hunter, Psychological Bulletin, 1998, 124: 262–274.
I believe that . . . false beliefs are a major cause of the addiction of researchers to significance tests. Many researchers believe that statistical significance testing confers important benefits that are in fact completely imaginary.
“Statistical significance testing and cumulative knowledge in psychology: Implications for training of researchers,” Psychological Methods, 1996, 1: 115–129.
If the null hypothesis is not rejected, [Sir Ronald] Fisher’s position was that nothing could be concluded. But researchers find it hard to go to all the trouble of conducting a study only to conclude that nothing can be concluded.
“Statistical significance testing and cumulative knowledge in psychology: Implications for training of researchers,” Psychological Methods, 1996, 1: 115–129.
Working on applied problems can lead to discoveries that have important basic and theoretical implications.
I believe that the Big Data movement is going to be a major challenge. I/O must confront this challenge or the Big Data movement will eat a big chunk of our lunch.
Job Performance
In the workplace, merit should be the primary basis for advancement.
Performance appraisal should be fair, objective, and based on measurable criteria.
Job performance is influenced by a combination of individual attributes and situational factors.
“The validity and utility of selection methods in personnel psychology: Practical and theoretical implications of 85 years of research findings,” with John E. Hunter, Psychological Bulletin, 1998, 124: 262–274.
Personality traits can predict job performance in certain contexts, but cognitive ability is a stronger predictor across a wide range of jobs.
“The validity and utility of selection methods in personnel psychology: Practical and theoretical implications of 85 years of research findings,” with John E. Hunter, Psychological Bulletin, 1998, 124: 262–274.
Cognitive ability is the strongest predictor of job performance across various occupations.
“The validity and utility of selection methods in personnel psychology: Practical and theoretical implications of 85 years of research findings,” with John E. Hunter, Psychological Bulletin, 1998, 124: 262–274.
Personality traits can predict job performance in specific contexts.
“The validity and utility of selection methods in personnel psychology: Practical and theoretical implications of 85 years of research findings,” with John E. Hunter, Psychological Bulletin, 1998, 124: 262–274.
Fair and objective performance appraisal systems are essential for fostering employee motivation and organizational effectiveness.
“The validity and utility of selection methods in personnel psychology: Practical and theoretical implications of 85 years of research findings,” with John E. Hunter, Psychological Bulletin, 1998, 124: 262–274.
The strongest relationships we have found between any individual difference and job performance are for measures of general mental ability.
“General mental ability in the world of work: Occupational attainment and job performance,” with John E. Hunter, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2004, 86: 162–173.
Leadership
Leadership is not about control; it’s about inspiring and empowering others to achieve greatness.
Lifelong Learning
Continuous learning and adaptation are essential for success in today’s rapidly changing world.
Personnel Selection
Selecting the right person for the right job is the most important decision an organization can make.
The purpose of selection is to predict how well an individual will perform in a given job.
Validity is the most important consideration in personnel selection.
“The validity and utility of selection methods in personnel psychology: Practical and theoretical implications of 85 years of research findings,” with John E. Hunter, Psychological Bulletin, 1998, 124: 262–274.
The success of an organization hinges on its ability to identify and nurture talent effectively.
“The validity and utility of selection methods in personnel psychology: Practical and theoretical implications of 85 years of research findings,” with John E. Hunter, Psychological Bulletin, 1998, 124: 262–274.
General mental ability is the single best predictor of job training success, even in jobs that seem to rely more on physical abilities or other competencies.
“The validity and utility of selection methods in personnel psychology: Practical and theoretical implications of 85 years of research findings,” with John E. Hunter, Psychological Bulletin, 1998, 124: 262–274.
Schmidt on Schmidt
[W]hat I enjoyed the most was something that sort of obsessed me—and actually Jack Hunter, too, and of course we worked closely together—was the epistemological riddle I referred to earlier of how to get valid cumulative knowledge from empirical data, when empirical data is bound and determined frequently just to lie flat-out to you.
Interview with Jeffrey M. Cucina, “An Interview with Frank L. Schmidt,” 2015 SIOP Living History Series [Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology], uploaded June 24, 2015.
I was a biology major for over two years as an undergraduate. I even had 13 hours of advanced placement credits in biology when I entered college. Early in my junior year when I took the Intro Psych course, I found the textbook had a good chapter on I/O Psychology. I knew immediately that that was what I wanted to do. So I switched majors.
The 2.5 years I spent as an undergraduate biology major influenced my general outlook on psychological research. I felt that too many areas of psychology, including I/O psychology, paid too little attention to the biological foundations of human behavior. Today that has changed. For example, Robert Plomin has just received the APA [American Psychological Association] Distinguished Scientific Contributions Award for his work in behavior genetics.
What was most fulfilling was having a major impact on theory and practice in I/O psychology through the development of validity generalization, meta-analysis, selection utility, test fairness, etc. It was even more gratifying when the meta-analysis work was recognized as having a wider impact beyond I/O psychology on psychology in general and other social sciences.
Always follow your interests regardless of opposition. Be persevering and stubborn if you are sure you are right and can prove it. Be willing to fight back against erroneous opponents.
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