The purpose of this study is to compare alternative multidimensional scaling (MDS) methods for constraining the stimuli on the circumference of a circle and on the surface of a sphere. Specifically, the existing MDS-T method for plotting the stimuli on the circumference of a circle is applied, and its extension is proposed for constraining the…

Estimation problems associated with the correlated-trait correlated-method (CTCM) parameterization of a multitrait-multimethod (MTMM) matrix are widely documented: the model often fails to converge; even when convergence is achieved, one or more of the parameter estimates are outside the admissible parameter space. In this study, the authors…

This study integrated Bayesian hierarchical modeling and receiver operating characteristic analysis (BROCA) to evaluate how interest strength (IS) and interest differentiation (ID) predicted low–socioeconomic status (SES) youth's interest-major congruence (IMC). Using large-scale Kuder Career Search online-assessment data, this study fit three…

Three studies were conducted to develop and validate scores on a new measure appropriate for assessing adolescents' situational interest (SI) across various academic settings. In Study 1 (n = 858), a self-report questionnaire was administered to undergraduates in introductory psychology. Confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) supported a three-factor…

The properties of the achievement goal inventories developed by Grant and Dweck (2003) and Elliot and McGregor (2001) were evaluated in two studies with a total of 780 participants. A four-factor specification for the Grant and Dweck inventory did not closely replicate results published in their original report. In contrast, the structure of the…

Measures of agreement for ordinal-scaled data are suggested that make use of the k categories with the highest ranks. The proposed measures are applied to the Self-Directed Search in order to evaluate its agreement with self-assessment (translation ability) or with the work environment (congruence). (Author)

Profile stability of the Kuder Occupational Interest Survey was assessed for profiles obtained twelve and nineteen years apart for persons between thirteen and twenty years of age at the time of first administration. Reported reliabilities ranged from .40 to .80 for various sub-samples. (JKS)

A study was undertaken to determine the relationship between declared major of entering junior college freshmen and measured interests in terms of clustered occupational activities. A sample of 336 entering students, who had declared their major, took the California Occupational Preference System (COP System) Interest Inventory. (Author/TM)

The effect of experimental directions designed to reduce a home-career conflict in women's occupational choices on the Kuder Occupational Interest Survey was investigated. Results indicate that the validity of the Kuder survey is not compromised by the experimental directions. Tables are presented and implications are discussed. (Author/JKS)

The relationship of scores on the COPSystem Interest Inventory, Form P to scores on similar constructs of the Vocational Preference Inventory was studied. Scales were matched according to the theoretical assumptions of the constructs. The pattern of magnitude of correlations is interpreted as providing evidence for the instruments' construct…

Predictive validity, generally taken to be the prime validity that occupationally normed interest inventories should demonstrate, is dependent on the capacity of an instrument to differentiate between occupations. A comparison of two methods of differentiation shows that a method using proportions of each occupational group to assign item-scoring…

Study asses the validity of the Inventory of Religious Activities and Interests (IRAI) for predicting for theological school students three sets of interest measures that reflect aspects of training in theological school. (Author)

Results indicated that for the samples studied the OIS and the VDI were apparently measuring different constructs of vocational maturity. (Authors)

A confirmatory factor analysis provided support for the result that Holland's Self-Directed Search measures six factors: realistic, investigative, artistic, social-enterprising, conventional, and a sixth general interest factor. Generally, the psychological relationship among types confirms the hexagon model proposed by Holland and others.…