As is true in a great many situations, something has been designed for a very specific use and then it is found, usually serendipitously (i.e., by accident) that it seems to be equally or even more useful in an entirely different situation.  This happens all the time in the use of newly developed pharmaceuticals - they are developed and tested for use with some particular medical disorder and then, sometimes entirely by accident, are found to be exceptionally valuable medications for an entirely different medical problem.  This kind of arrangement, finding that drugs are effective in treating medical disorders that are very different from the medical problems  that they were originally developed to treat, occurs so often that it cannot be thought to be even surprising.  Such is not only limited to the pharmaceutical world, but occurs frequently in just about every human pursuit direction that can be contemplated.  Mathematicians not infrequently find that certain sub areas of mathematics, that were once thought to be only useful with a certain problem type, but turn out to be equally, or even more than, valuable in some entirely different application area.  Kerosene was developed over a century ago mainly to fuel simple heaters, however in the mid-20th century it was found to be the ideal fuel for something quite different, jet airplane engines.  Over two decades after the PSSPQ was developed to do a single job, it was serendipitously discovered to work very well in a most different arena.

     The PSSPQ is a psychological test that was developed by Dr. LeRoy A. Stone, while he was the Chief Research Psychologist in the then USA's largest and most costly intelligence Agency, for a very specific purpose - to develop a psychological testing type tool that could be used to accurately predict whether or not a candidate, just starting the long investigation and adjudication process conducted by the Government, would eventually be successful or not in being granted high-level security clearance status.  In this type situation, Dr. Stone's test, the PSSPQ, proved to be very powerful in that it provided accurate predictions at about the 95+% accuracy level.  The few prediction errors that did occur tended to be on the conservative side, a few were predicted to be denial clearance who in fact were eventually granted clearances.  This very slight directional prediction bias was precisely in the direction that was wanted.  The PSSPQ has been commercially offered and sold over the Internet the past several years exclusively for the purpose of prediction of success/failure to be eventually granted high-level security clearance status.  Purchasers of this particular PSSPQ prediction service generally have been persons who are anticipating applying for employment with Federal contractors where they would be required to be processed for security clearances or persons contemplating applying directly for Federal employment which would require security clearance obtaining before any actual hiring could take place.  In the past few  years, the processing length for the required investigations and adjudications has been taking, on the average about a year and a half, many times much longer - such a situation increased motivations for wanting to 'take' the PSSPQ and to obtain the resultant very practical predictions.  In case, anyone would like to know more about the PSSPQ, take a look at its main web page, i.e., http://www.home.earthlink.net/~lastone2/psspq.html.   For those interested in Dr. Stone's professional background, his curriculum vitae can be found at:  http://www.home.earthlink.net/~lastone2/resume.htm. 

     In the quite recent past, the PSSPQ has, through and act of serendipity, been found to be, in addition to its original use situation, also very helpful when used to evaluate online dating prospects.  Normally, such a evaluation service has been requested (and bought and paid for) by one of the potential dating partners.  Because he/she is aware of the sometimes great personal dangers involved when initiating a beginning relationship with someone who VERY little is really known about, the cautious (quite rightfully so!) prospect, makes arrangements with Dr. Stone so that the cautious person can be PSSPQ evaluated.  Of course, before such can transpire, the targeted dating prospect must agree to be PSSPQ tested and the results communicated to the cautious dating prospect.  For an extensive description of how the PSSPQ was discovered and based upon research was found to provide an unusual and not previously found high level degree of effective value when used to evaluate the personal honesty and integrity of potential online dating prospects, see:  http://www.home.earthlink.net/~lastone2/psspqdatingtest.htm.  At this just listed web site, additional links can be found to other additional PSSPQ web pages that further elaborate use of the PSSPQ in this online dating type situation.

     When one considers the title of this web page presentation [that you are now reading], what is being attempted to be communicated is the fact that the PSSPQ is the best and most effective action that a person can do to be careful and cautious when possibly involving oneself in some potential online dating relationship., To do a little early checking out of the individual who you have discovered in an online dating site and have begun to think that the individual may possibly be that 'special person for whom you have been searching, would most certainly be advisable.  Before you go any further in the very early stages of this potential relationship, you deem it wise to know as much about this other person, at least as much as possible that can be gleaned at this very early stage, before going any further.  Facing such a situation the involved person would be most wise to use the most single best tool to hopefully discover any pertinent and meaningful information of someone who has been initially viewed to be "interesting" prospect.  That single best tool would be, without any doubt, the PSSPQ.  How and why can this be said?

   Without going into any great detail, let me introduce you to a quite recent consumer evaluation of the most major tools currently available.  The well regarded and quite objective magazine, Consumer Reports (i.e., CR), in their December 2006 issue, on pages 43-45, they presented a research article entitled: "Romance.com: CR's Guide to Online Dating Sites."  This article presented information that suggested the matching of dating prospects to achieve compatibility, based on personality testing, really did little to protect site customers from evil planning persons.  A spokesman for one of the better known sites, who match persons based on psychological testing, suggested that their test include some type of lie scale, but he said little to suggest that their lie scale(s) did very well in discerning liars.  In this same CR article, the few dating sites that claim to employ criminal background checking (also checking for marital status) of prospective customers are found to face some very real problems.  One major problem is that it appears that most of the criminal background checking is limited to specific jurisdictions, such as to states.  Seemingly, they do not, or cannot, make use of any fully national level background record checks.  Also, CR also mentions that use of false or incorrect names would name backgrounds check unworkable.  The most major problem with most of the bigger, more visible and popular online dating sites, regardless of how they claim to protect their prospective dating customers from harm, is that they may share customers' personal information with a site's business partners or with advertisers.  Ever wonder where all those spam messages, mailed out advertising, telemarketing calls, etc. get your name and many times some background information as to some aspects regarding your personal status.

     Being entirely unrelated to any existing online dating sites, use of the PSSPQ carries with it a promise that no personal information, that is submitted by users, will ever be shared with any other commercial organization or with any persons outside of those who process the PSSPQ information that you, the customer and your prospective dating partner, must submit in order that the PSSPQ evaluation service be used.  We promise to delete any such information from our computer; PSSPQ item response information is entered into the computer in order to be scored, scale scores developed and a mathematical/statistical discriminant function score computed.  The deletion will take place within about 10 days following the calculations having been made.  All paper records (i.e., test answer sheet, computer print out, etc.) will be destroyed  (i.e., shred) 30 days following final mail out to you, the obtained PSSPQ results/interpretations.  The only reason why we must maintain these documents for 30 days, is to have some backup in case the US Postal Service lets us down when delivering our testing results information to you.  Although such problems occur very very seldom, we must be prepared to still provide you with your needed (and paid for) PSSPQ results information.  This statement, made in this paragraph, is NOT made by most major and well known online dating sites.  In fact, it is a point that the above mentioned CR article clearly describes and warns about.  We, who are offering the PSSPQ have no connections to other commercial organizations or advertisers.  YOUR NAME AND ANY INFORMATION PERTAINING TO YOU WILL BE TOTALLY DESTROYED WITHIN A MONTH FOLLOWING OUR SENDING TO YOU THE PSSPQ RESULTS REGARDING YOUR POTENTIAL ONLINE DATING PROSPECT - THIS WE ABSOLUTELY PROMISE TO DO!

     Would you let your family select your dating partners as is done is some nonWestern cultures?  If you are American (or are someone who greatly values the American general culture) it is doubtful that you would go along with any such practice.  Would you let a local psychiatrist, psychologist, or social worker, one of these professionals who actually knows you and your family, pick out your dates for you?  You might listen to them, but then you most likely would follow your own likes, dislikes, 'instincts,' etc. to really form your own dating preference choices.  If this is so, it is almost beyond reason why some American thinking person would let some Internet corporation, founded and run by psychologists who you do not know and who you know almost absolutely nothing about, who use a test that has no real name and the details of its construction have not been published in any behavioral science journal or such recognized scientific book/magazine, who make interpretations and decision from such testing,  based upon non stated and non described rules and procedures, to make your dating prospects selection for you entirely without allowing you the freedom to really by-pass their dating prospects selections for you.  Not only this, but then pay a basic one month membership price of $60 that does not allow you to even browse the files of the site's other members.  Probably the best know online dating site of today does exactly what is described in this paragraph.  This particular online dating site has its staff make your dating prospects selection(s) for you based upon non stated and non described selection formulas or paradigms that they seemingly follow.  If the reader of this piece has any doubts as to the validity of what just has been said here, then go to the already referenced CR article and read what it has to say regarding the eHarmony online dating site.

     Another one of the very 'big' and highly popular online dating sites offers, as its major inducement for your wanting a membership in the site, a criminal background check that seemingly threatens to notify authorities in the event that the site's criminal background checking identifies any membership applying person as having a criminal record; they claim also to check public marriage records.  With that stated in the site's advertisements, doesn't this background checking remove just about all the danger that one frequently hears about the pitfalls and horror stores connected to online dating?  One problem here is that the criminal background checks apparently do not cover the entire USA and beyond.  The only criminal record data pools that are the most complete are those of the US Justice Department and they are really not 'open' to any commercial private detective type software that allows access to such.  Yes there are criminal background data bases, some are limited to single particular States or collections of jurisdictions, but none cover all valid and existing criminal records, throughout the entire country.  Also, some commercially addressable criminal record data bases are not too complete when it comes to misdeamor level crimes, some of which, especially if repeated, are VERY SERIOUS!  One other problem with the criminal background check idea with review of a site's prospective member application is who says that anyone making application for membership must use their own name.  What is there to really catch and stop such an individual from using a false or even someone else's name?  The downside of the criminal background check gimmick is very real and some very bad people can and do enter the membership rolls of this particular online dating site.  However, with this just said, of all the hundreds (maybe even more) of online dating site on the Internet, really only True.com offers any safety attempt worth mentioning; the rest of them do not even come close to the background checking, however incomplete and escapable, that True.com apparently offers.  What is expressed in this paragraph is very much common knowledge for anyone who has conducted serious study of the so-called background checking that is the main sales gimmick for True.com.  The Internet is full of these same criticisms, by respected business and news reporting organizations; for example, see the comments from the Commercial Times (http://www.commercialtimes.com/story/41004.html) or MSNBC (http://www.msnbc.mcn.com/id5429902/).

     If one truly wants some personal safety when contemplating using an online dating site to hopefully find some acceptable romantic type partner for dating or for more advanced relationships, it appears that all such online sites do little if anything to protect you from the unquestionable dangers that lurk there.  Only a couple online dating sites, eharmony and True.com, in particular, really have attempted to provide any meaningful safeguards, however weak and apparently bypass able, to potential users of the sites' services.  Of these two, the developer of the PSSPQ views that offered by True.com to perhaps be the most meaningful in terms of offering some degree of safety to online dating prospects.  For obvious reasons, the developer and now purveyor of the PSSPQ, is convinced that of the currently available online dating site protections offered by only a VERY few, or the majority of sites that offer nothing at all, the only few actual offerings are surpassed, in terms of safety to the online dating customers who purchase PSSPQ services.  The PSSPQ will quite adequately evaluate a potential dating prospect.  In the event that the prospect refuses to be evaluated, the requester of PSSPQ services will then have his/her 'answer' regarding that possible dating prospect - FORGET HIM/HER RIGHT THEN.  If the individual, who is to be evaluated, agrees to the evaluative process, then  you will receive just about the very best (perhaps even the best!) psychometric evaluation tool ever developed for the purpose of focusing on personal honesty/integrity, given the size, time, and financial expense limitation parameters in which fits the PSSPQ.  For its size, cost, time involvement, you can do no better than the PSSPQ to accomplish the type and kind of evaluation you need when contemplating dating activities using online dating sites.  For those who might be interested in learning more about how, why and when the PSSPQ was developed.  It might be helpful to also know the professional qualifications of the developer of this 'test.'  All of this is shown on the PSSPQ 'home' page which can be found at: http://www.home.earthlink.net/~lastone2/psspq.html.  It is also strongly suggested that anyone who has read this presentation to this point to also take a look at the 'home' page for using the PSSPQ to evaluate dating prospects who have been suggested by online dating sites; this web page can be found at:  http://www.home.earthlink.net/~lastone2/psspqdatingtest.htm.

     If you, the reader of this presentation, has read this far, then it can be assumed that you have some interest in the subject matter.  If this is so, you might want to know what one does in order to obtain an online dating prospect evaluation accomplished by deployment of the PSSPQ.  The following will describe how to obtain such PSSPQ evaluation services.      Specifically, the PSSPQ scoring information that you will be provided are his/her T-scores on all 11 areas of concern (i.e., alcohol abuse, illegal drug use and drug abuse, financial irresponsibility, emotional and mental illness, sexual history troubles, etc.).  Most importantly, a T-score on the PSSPQ's LIE Scale.  A prediction score, based upon a discriminant function set up to predict success/failure in being eventually granted high-level security clearance status - this can be, in your case, interpretable as a kind of overall or generalized personal integrity and honesty scoring.

     For summary purposes let me briefly list out what the above instructions (in narrative form) specified:

1.  Inform your online dating person that you would like to have him/her PSSPQ tested and that you would be fully
    responsible for the financial costs for same.

2.  Send a bank cashiers check or postal money order, in the amount of $100.00 to Dr. LeRoy A. Stone, P.O. Box
    395, Harpers Ferry, WV 25425-0395 along with you prospective date's name (in some form or another) and
    his/her mailing address.  Also, be sure that your name/address is also given to Dr. Stone so that he will be able
     to accurately mail to you the resulting PSSPQ scores and interpretations.  [Please note that ONLY a bank
     cashiers check or a US Postal money order will be accepted for payment; Dr. Stone no longer wants to support
     use of credit cards due to their employment of "hidden fees" and other problem matters.  He, in his personal
    life, has kept only one credit card, and except for the fact that making a hotel reservation absolutely requires
    the use of a credit card; he has not used a credit card to make any retail purchase in well over two years!  The
    rest of the USA population would be wise to follow his credit card disuse behavior!]  In the event that a
    PSSPQ customer is outside the USA, an International Money Order would suffice.

3.  When the above specified  payment and names/addresses have been received by Dr. Stone, he will then
     immediately mail to your online 'partner' a complete PSSPQ testing materials package.

4   When the completed PSSPQ testing package has been returned to Dr. Stone, he and his staff will score your
    online 'partners', compute the available prediction and then send this scoring information, along with
    appropriate interpretative materials, to you.  In the event that your prospective 'partner' obtains a sufficiently
    favorable set of results, he/she will be issued a PSSPQ Certificate that certifies a favorable degree of personal
    honesty/integrity was observed, based upon the measurement logic of the PSSPQ.

5.  Dr. Stone will retain your online dating partner's item response information, along with both your
    names/addresses for no longer than one month following the original scoring of the involved PSSPQ responses,
    at that time ALL such information will be destroyed (i.e., put through a shredder).  This materials destruction is
    both for both your benefits as well as for Dr. Stone's.  Dr. Stone, in no way has any other interest in your dating
    partner's responses, your names/addresses other than to receive payment for services and to hopefully provide
    valuable psychological information to you.  Dr. Stone absolutely guarantees that he will, for approximately one
    month's time, protect the privacy of your personal information and that he will share none of it with any other
    third party.

6.  In the event that you send in the fee, required for PSSPQ use, and a complete PSSPQ testing package is sent to
     the  named person you provided a name/address for, and that person decides her/she does not want to respond
     to the PSSPQ and sends back to Dr. Stone, the complete and unresponded to testing package, a refund of
    $50.00 will be sent back to you.  However, if he/she fails to return, to Dr. Stone, the complete and unresponded
    to testing package, the full $100.00 fee will be kept and no partial refund to you will be made.
 
 

 This site last updated 22 February 2007    Copyrighted 2001-2007  Dr. LeRoy A. Stone [PSSPQ] 
 U.S.Post Office Box 395, Harpers Ferry, WV 25425-0395,  Email us at:  lastone2@earthlink.net 

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