Holland's (1973) theory of vocational choice proposes a typology of, and a match between, people and occupations. The Self Directed Search (SDS) can be used to assess people's occupational orientation types. To assess the construct validity of Holland's theory of occupational preferences, 171 female industrial workers participated in a study,…

Discriminant analysis of Holland's Self Directed Search and Vocational Preference Inventory significantly improved the predictive validity of his classification scheme, over the traditional method of assigning high point codes. These results were obtained with both an initial and a replication sample of undergraduates pursuing various degrees. The…

Concern on how interest inventories are being used in career counseling and other preventive interventions has resulted in heightened sensitivity to the impact of interest inventories and the emergence of the concept exploration validity. Various aspects of exploration validity were assessed using three different interest inventories. The…

This paper offers some suggestions and cautions concerning the use of the Self-Directed Search (SDS) and the Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory (SCII). A rationale for separate scoring of interest and ability sections of the SDS is provided, i.e., that correlations between interest and abilities and between abilities and vocational satisfaction…