Comparison of satisfied and dissatisfied users of Holland's self-directed search.

Abstract

Preliminary use of the SDS led to the speculation that some people were very dissatisfied with their results and others were quite pleased. Of the 4,631 incoming freshmen at the University of Maryland who completed the SDS 485 were extremely satisfied and 343 were extremely dissatisfied with their results. The codes for these groups were compared using chisquare and t. Results indicated that a greater percent of those dissatisfied did not obtain codes with a corresponding occupation listed in the SDS booklet. Also the satisfied group received more Artistic and Investigative codes while the dissatisfied group received more Conventional codes. The possibility that the SDS favors people from and implications of the results were discussed. upper socioeconomic levels The Self-Directed Search for Educational and Vocational Planning (SDS) is a self-scoring, self-administering instrument designed by John L. Holland, author of the Vocational Preference Inventory. According to Holland (1971, p 3) the SDS has two main purposes: To provide a vocational counseling experience for people who do not have access to counselors or who cannot afford their services, and to multiply the number of people a counselor can serve. The SDS is composed of No booklets, one for self-assessment and one which lists occupations. A person fills out the Assessment booklet and obtains a three letter code. He then uses the Occupational Classification booklet to find the occupations which correspond to his codes. The validity of the SDS is based on Holland's theory of personality types and on his assertion that the best way to ascertain what choice a person will make is to ask him directly. He incorporates this belief in the SDS by asking subjects to list occupational daydreams at the beginning of the Assessment booklet and to find the 3 letter codes which correspond to the day-dream occupations. The 3 letter codes represent combinations of Holland's six personality types: Realistic, Investigative (formerly Intellectual), Artistic, Social, Enterprising and Conventional. This 3 letter summary code is based on scores from five sections of the Assessment booklet (Activities, Competencies, Occupations and two Self-Estimates). A complete explanation of the theory can be found in Holland (1959, 1966). Holland (1971) reported reliability coefficients (KR20) for individual scales of the SDS ranging from .53 to .87 for men and women. O'Connell and Sedlacek (1971) provided test-retest reliabilities of codes over a 7-10 month period for 65 college freshmen of .75 (Pearson), .92 (Spearman Rho) and ,87 (average common elements). Holland feels that about 50 or 60 percent of the student and adult population could benefit from taking the SDS without the aid of a counselor. 4