Some correlates of Naval promotional viability.

Abstract

This thesis focused on attempting to predict the promotional histories of one hundred randomly selected U . S. Naval Academy graduates who were commissioned in the U. S. Navy in 1950. Criteria used during promotion or selection board sessions are described and the literature reviewed to see if these criteria had been found to be important in previous military and civilian studies. The data collected on the one hundred men were comprised of biographical information including five Naval Academy class standing variables and two variables derived from judgments of photographs of the sample members. These variables were used in analyses focused on predicting promotional success in the Navy. The variable having the highest correlation with promotion success was a Naval Academy standing score called leadership. The relative standing of all midshipmen in this standing score was based upon the academic results achieved in one three-semester-hour course. . However, no statistically significant relationship was found between rank and the predictor variables used in this study.