AVA

Generalities

AVA was created by Walter Clark in the 1940s and is currently sold by the Bizet Group based in Pittsburgh, PA, USA. Clark was a student of Prescott Leaky, who himself learned from Marston, a professor at Columbia University in New York, USA. Marston is credited with formulating the four dimensions that are used in many systems like DiSC, Thomas, McQuaig, or Insight. Meanwhile, Clark is responsible for putting together the fundamentals that we can still see in many of these tools today.

The AVA test takes approximately 10 minutes to complete, and the technique used to evaluate the position is called JAR (Job Activity Rating). After taking the test, graphs are displayed, and reports of various kinds are produced in either English or Spanish. These reports include information on behavioral tendencies, management competencies, job fit, and counseling. The test can be taken either online or in paper and pencil mode.

AVA has undergone various reliability and validity studies and is recommended for various applications such as recruiting, team building, counseling, or position definition.

Critique

AVA is primarily distributed to HR specialists in the US, with poor distribution outside of the US. Additionally, the reports generated by AVA do not reference or value the profiles and the behavior-factor-based approach used to produce them.

Other information

One of the many articles published by Clark about some fundamentals of AVA: Clarke W. V. (1956). The Construction of an Industrial Selection Personality Test. The Journal of Psychology. 41, p. 379-394.