Validity of Person Matching in Vocational Interest Inventories

Research for more than 60 years has shown that entry into occupations can be predicted from scores on interest inventories at a rate better than chance (Donnay, 1997 ). The psychometric scoring methodologies used today by a majority of vocational interest inventories were developed in the 1920s and 1960s. Researchers are challenged with improving the theory and science behind vocational interest inventories to align them with current vocational constructions. In this study, validity comparisons were made between person matching and standard scoring based on 5,143 medical students who had taken a vocational interest inventory and had entered their medical residency. Person matching was found to improve differentiation between occupational groups and increase the amount of information offered in the scoring report; in addition, it could potentially increase occupational group assignment to advance vocational interest inventory validity.