Construction and Validation of the Dalton Vocational Importance Questionnaire: A Test of Ginzberg's Theory of Occupational Choice

Abstract

A 22-item questionnaire of elements (interests, capacities, and values) mentioned in the literature was pilot tested and checked for readability. Following revision, it was administered to 1,220 subjects from varied backgrounds from 5th to 12th grades and the responses factor analyzed. Three factors (Capacities, Interests, and Values) with 8, 5, and 5 items and .96, .94, and .94 reliabilities accounted for 32.4% of the total variance. Four items were discarded as not suitable. The revised questionnaire was used to test Ginzberg's theory of occupational choice at the Tentative period. No support for the theory was obtained.