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A Brief Look at the Status of Educational Interest Measurement SVIB

Author(s):
French, John Winslow, 1918-
Publication Year:
1962
Report Number:
RM-62-16
Source:
ETS Research Memorandum
Document Type:
Report
Page Count:
20
Subject/Key Words:
Interest Inventories, Interest Research, Student Interests, Vocational Interests

Abstract

Research was reviewed on the relationship between educational and vocational interests and academic success and satisfaction. Much research concerns the Kuder Preference Record and the Strong Vocational Interest Blank (SVIB). The patterns of interest scores found for different vocational groups fit our vocational stereotypes very clearly. Interests measured by the SVIB were found to be stable. The relationship between aptitude, achievement, and interests was unclear; do aptitudes spawn interests, or do interests permit the development of aptitudes? Many studies compared patterns of interest scores with choice of educational field; predicting success or satisfaction in a field was more difficult. In the author's Comparative Prediction Study, 5,000 college freshmen were administered sixteen aptitude measures, twelve personality scales, and half the items from the Cooperative Interest Index, which describes familiar activities. The following data were collected: freshman grades, junior and senior major field grades, graduate's satisfaction with selection, and career choice if given the opportunity to start over. While absolute predictive ability was reasonably good, the differential prediction needed by a counselor was weaker. There was some evidence that interest scales were more useful than aptitude tests in predicting career success. In a prior study of the author's, interests were measured by testing information in seven fields, assuming that a student would acquire information in an area if interested in it. The information measures predicted general success, but did not differentiate well between fields. This result was similar to the aptitude measures.

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