Concurrent validity of the 2004 Strong Interest Inventory: an examination of gender and college major
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Abstract
To keep abreast of the advent of new occupations and majors, the 1994 Strong Interest Inventory (SII) was revised in 2004. This study examined the concurrent validity of the 2004 Strong Interest Inventory, primarily investigating the scales abilities to differentiate between different college majors for women. Discriminant analyses were used to examine the ability of the 41 scales of the SII to separate 31 college majors. Of the 41 scales, 39 scales were statistically significant in separating college majors for women. In addition, the utility of specific sets of scales and the cumulative ability of sets of SII scales to correctly classify women college majors was explored. Sets of scales investigated were the Personal Style Scales, the General Occupational Themes, and the Basic Interest Scales. Findings for the sets of scales indicated that the PSSs, the GOTs, and the BISs were all useful in discriminating between female college majors. Furthermore, support was found for the hypothesis that the Basic Interest Scales were the most powerful predictors of college major for women due to their specificity in measuring career interests. Also, when the statistical models generated for women were examined regarding their applicability for a male sample, the fit for men was good. The author concludes that the vocational interests of women and men have much similarity. Other interesting univariate and multivariate findings were explored.