Work Classification in Ancient Times

The divisions of labor and the classifications of work in ancient times are described, and an early four-part classification is compared with that of the present Dictionary of Occupational Titles.     

COLOR PERCEPTION REQUIREMENTS OF 4,000 JOBS

Tabulation of the color discrimination requisites of a representative sample of 4,000 jobs revealed that the great majority of jobs require little or no color perception aptitude. The 2 percent of jobs requiring above-average color discrimination were listed by Dictionary of Occupational Titles classifications for the use of counselors in the guidance of clients with defective color vision.     

Specific versus general skills and abilities: A job level examination of relationships with wage

The extensive literature purporting an upgrading in occupational skill requirements paired with the perception of a skill shortage in the workforce calls for the need to develop workplace skills and abilities. However, decisions about which skills to develop would be aided by information about which skills/abilities are valued most highly and lead to higher wage jobs. The job evaluation literature and labour‐market wage theory present competing hypotheses about skill—wage relationships. The ACT Inc.'s Work Keys® system, the prototype Occupational Information Network, and the fourth edition Dictionary of Occupational Titles job analytic databases were paired with concurrent wage data. These data made it possible to conduct a job‐level evaluation of whether specific skills/abilities could be identified that were most strongly linked to wage or whether broad skill/ability factors accounted for a majority of wage variance. Results indicated that a majority of the wage variance explainable by skills/abilities could be attributed to a general cognitive factor.     

SVIB revisions and factors affecting scale reliability

The 1966 SVIB scoring keys were investigated and found to contain an average of 214 fewer items per occupational scale than the 1938 scoring keys. The shorter scales are less reliable than the longer scales on the 1966 SVIB. The shorter scales in the 1966 edition and SCII contain items which differentiate criterion group members less well than do the longer scales. There may not be a wide enough range of item content on the SCII to develop reliable (and valid?) scales for certain occupations. Equivalence between the 1938 and 1966 editions functionally is low, as evidenced by the median correlation of .47 in the present 12-yr follow-up study for 40 occupational scales.     

Content analysis of the strong vocational interest blank for women

The content of each of the Occupational and Nonoccupational scales on the Strong Vocational Interest Blank for Women (SVIB-W; Form TW398) was described in terms of the categories used for the Basic Interest scales. The number of common items scored on the Occupational or Nonoccupational scales and the Basic scales was cross-tabulated for each pair of scales. A variety of interest factors was represented on each of the Occupational and Nonoccupational scales. Several shortcomings of the SVIB-W (e.g., restricted range of interests represented in item pool, no Occupational scale for “outdoors” occupations, and questionable validity of Diversity scale) were noted.     

The Occupational Information Network: An Updated Dictionary of Occupational Titles

All of the articles in this issue demonstrate the richness of military research being conducted in the area of occupational analysis. Several of them also present findings and observations that have implications for the utility of an important occupational database currently being developed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Labor. This database is called the Occupational Information Network (O*Net; Peterson, Mumford, Borman, Jeanneret, & Fleishman, 1995) and is intended to supplant the Dictionary of Occupational Titles.     

Relations of socioeconomic status and sex variables to the complexity of worker functions in the occupational choices of elementary school children

The relationships of sex and socioeconomic status to complexity of worker functions in the occupational choices of elementary school children were studied. Complexity of worker functions was defined in terms of the most complex level of interaction required of a worker, when interacting with data, people, and things. The children included in the study were third- and fifth-grade students, divided on the basis of grade, sex, and socioeconomic status. The children's occupational choices were scored for complexity with the code numbers of the worker function hierarchies of the U.S. Employment Service's Dictionary of Occupational Titles (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Govt. Printing Office, 1977, 4th ed.). Findings based on the obtained data indicated the following: (a) a positive relationship between socioeconomic status and complexity of data manipulation in occupational choices; and (b) greater complexity of interaction with things in the occupational choices of boys, than girls. The positive relationship between socioeconomic status and complexity of data manipulation was accounted for by the children's exposure to their parents' orientation toward data manipulation. Apparent differences in the play activities of boys and girls was used to explain differences between the sexes in the levels of complexity of interactions with inanimate objects and animals.     

Can we differentiate sensory over‐responsivity from anxiety symptoms in toddlers? perspectives of occupational therapists and psychologists

Suppose a toddler becomes distressed after hearing a loud noise or when getting messy; are these indicators of sensory over‐responsiveness or indicators of anxiety? There is little evidence regarding the distinction between sensory over‐responsivity and anxiety disorders in toddlers. This construct validity study examined differences between occupational therapists' and psychologists' judgments of behaviors as representing sensory processing disorders (SPD) versus anxiety disorders. Twenty‐four occupational therapists and 25 psychologists completed a mailed survey, rating items from sensory and anxiety scales as representing sensory and/or anxiety disorders in toddlers, and analyzing cases of toddlers with these disorders. Occupational therapists were more likely to rate items as representing SPD than psychologists, and occupational therapists were more certain of the distinction of the sensory scales from anxiety. For the case designed to present a general anxiety disorder and the one designed to present sensory over‐responsivity, more occupational therapists diagnosed as sensory over‐responsive, while more psychologists diagnosed with a general anxiety disorder. The overlap in judgments of sensory over‐responsivity and anxiety supports the notion that these constructs in part reflect different professionals' perspectives upon behaviors as well as the difficulty in distinguishing these constructs in toddlers.     

The extension of Holland's Occupational Classification to all occupations in the Dictionary of Occupational Titles

Two methods are presented for extending Holland's occupational classification to include all occupations in the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT).     

Jobs You Won't Find in the Dictionary of Occupational Titles

This article, although written in a whimsical style, points out the value-laden nature of our premier source of occupational information, the Dictionary of Occupational Titles. Other than legal occupations, jobs that are remunerative can be placed into three categories: (a) illegal occupations, (b) underground or counterculture occupations, and (c) occupations “in limbo.”     

Criterion-related validity of sex-restrictive and unisex interest scales: A comparison

This report describes two studies comparing the criterion-related validity of sex-balanced (“unisex”) interest inventory scales, i.e., scales designed such that the distributions of scores are similar for males and females, and traditional, sex-restrictive scales. Approximately 1600 college-bound high school seniors (Study 1) and 2000 college seniors (Study 2) completed both the ACT Interest Inventory (ACT-IV) and the new Unisex Edition of the ACT-IV (UNIACT), which contains sex-balanced items. In both studies, each participant was placed in one of six criterion groups based on the correspondence of expressed occupational choice (Study 1) and actual college major (Study 2) to Holland types. Comparable levels of criterion-related validity were obtained with the unisex scales, sex-restrictive scales, and with sex-balanced scores obtained by the traditional procedure of using same-sex norms. Study results and the results of previous research indicate that (a) psychometrically sound interest inventories can be constructed with sex-balanced items, and (b) counselors may use inventories which provide sex-balanced score reports without sacrificing validity.     

RELIABILITIES OF RATINGS AVAILABLE FROM THE DICTIONARY OF OCCUPATIONAL TITLES

Job analysts who collect occupational information for the Dictionary of Occupational Titles observed and interviewed job incumbents representing 20 diverse occupations and rated each occupation on a wide variety of characteristics following standard United States Employment Services procedures. On the basis of four ratings, the large majority of 70 scales were found to have coefficient alpha (or KR-20) reliabilities in excess of .SO, and 25 scales had reliabilities ranging from .90 to .98; a variance ratio procedure yielded largely consistent estimates. Reliabilities were similar to those found in an earlier study using different procedures and were similar to those from a well-developed, occupa-tionally anchored scale of "Job Complexity," developed for this study. Scales representing broad, abstract job characteristics tended to have higher reliabilities than scales representing more concrete job characteristics.     

Validity of sex-balanced interest inventory scales

The purpose of this study was to examine the relative effectiveness of sex-balanced and sex-restrictive raw score interest scales in discriminating among vocational preference groups. Analyses were conducted separately for 502 males in six vocational preference groups and 878 females in five vocational preference groups. The degree and nature of the discrimination among groups were highly similar for the two types of scales for both males and females. Centour scores derived from sex-balanced and sex-restrictive raw scores resulted in essentially the same percentages of correct classifications of group membership. The results of this study suggest that the large sex differences traditionally found in interest inventory items may not be a necessary concomitant of validity. Hence, interest inventory reports that reflect these differences may unnecessarily restrict the career suggestions they provide to women and men.     

Utilizing occupational complexity levels in vocational interest assessments: Assessing interests for STEM areas

With an aim to improve vocational interest assessments geared toward the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) areas, we developed a new assessment by incorporating occupational complexity levels. Occupations which correspond to Holland's realistic and investigative themes were identified together with their complexity levels using the information in the Dictionary of Holland Occupational Codes. How the required skills, abilities, and work activities differ in occupations with different complexity levels was identified using the Occupational Information Network. Two studies (N = 691 total) were conducted to assess reliability and validity of a measure of STEM Interest Complexity assessing the level of interests for STEM, which was developed based on the information obtained from these occupation databases. Construct validity was demonstrated with factor analyses and based on associations with traditional interest assessments, cognitive abilities, and theoretically-related constructs. Concurrent criterion-related validity was demonstrated based on associations with attachment to STEM, intentions to persist in and further pursue a STEM field, intentions to choose a complex occupation, college major satisfaction, and STEM-related GPA. Dominance analyses indicated that the relative contribution of the STEM Interest Complexity measure exceeded that of traditional interest assessments in the prediction of criteria. The usefulness of integrating a dimension of level and consulting occupation information databases in developing vocational interest assessments are discussed.     

Career change and congruence of personality type: An examination of DOT-derived work environment designations

Holland's theory of congruence of work environments was examined by analyzing the career redirection of 62 men of managerial and professional level who changed occupations between the ages of 33 and 54. Three-letter personality codes for each subject were obtained by administering the Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory. Dictionary of Occupational Titles codes for first and second occupation were obtained and then translated into Holland codes. These were compared to the personality code for each man to determine whether the first or second job was more congruent. It was found that 26 men changed to careers more congruent with their personality, 25 to careers less congruent, and 11 made no change. The results of the study do not lend support to Holland's theory, probably because of the imprecision of DOT categories for research purposes. The need for a more reliable means for coding work environments is discussed.     

Factor invariance of the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory

Several factor analyses of the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI) have resulted in very similar solutions. Interpretation of this consistency is hampered by the fact that the 20 scales of the inventory share items. Overlapping items cause the scales to be linearly dependent and may create structure in the interscale correlation matrix which is separate from the subject response patterns. A factor analysis was performed on the matrix of item-overlap coefficients which describes the underlying artifactual structure of the instrument. Data from two new subject samples were factor analyzed and compared to previously published studies. Similarity coefficients among factors across studies were calculated.     

Images of occupations: Components of gender and status in occupational stereotypes

A multidimensional approach to occupational gender type was explored. In Study 1, participants' spontaneous images of various jobs were elicited. The attributes generated were used to develop a job images questionnaire employed in Study 2 on which participants rated a random sample of 100 occupational titles. Occupational images were primarily structured on two orthogonal dimensions: prestige and gender type. The multidimensional approach to occupational gender-type was supported in that important gender-related occupational attributes (masculine personality trait requirements and analytical skills) did not load on the gender-type factor, but did load highly on the prestige factor. Thus, even though the prestige and gender-type factors were orthogonal, specific gender-related attributes were related to perceived occupational prestige.