Review of Strong Interest Inventory.

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Review of Strong Interest Inventory

By Raymond Au


General Information

The test is to be evaluated is the Strong Interest Inventory(r) (1994). The author is Strong, Edward K., Jr.; Campbell, David P.; Harmon, Lenore W.; Hansen, Jo-Ida C.; Borgen, Fred H.; Hammer, Allen L. (The Strong, in its revision, continued in the established traditions of the Strong Vocational Interest Blank () and the Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory () while introducing several innovations.) It was published by Consulting Psychologists Press, Inc. in 1994. Time needed to administer is about 30 - 60 minutes. The price is different in different place and for different people. Those for students (about US$ 18) are cheaper than those for adults (about US$ 40). Also, there are different packages for different uses. For example, 10 prepaid profiles cost $75; 10 prepaid interpretive reports cot $235; Strong Applications and Technical Guide costs $72; Strong Profile preview kit costs $18.95; Interpretive report preview kit costs $23.10; 10 client booklets cost $40; 10 prepaid professional reports: $163 and Strong Professional report preview kit costs $26.5.

Brief Description of the Purpose and Nature of the Test

Strong Interest Inventory (SII) is an interest inventory for an individual to measure their interest and interpret one’s best career path. It provides a solid, dependable guide for individuals seeking a job change, a career change, or help with career development opportunities.  The main purpose of the test is to identify general areas of interests as well as specific activities and occupations for further exploration. The designed people are the people considering a career change, employees seeking more satisfying work within an organization, students exploring career options, organizations looking to retain star performers and key staff, and midlife and older adults planning their retirement. Thus, the age range is from 8th grade to adult.

It is a paper-and-pencil or online administration test and is consisted of 317 items measuring respondents’ preferences for various occupations, school subjects, work-related activities, leisure activities, type of people, personal characteristics and personal preferences. The test taker can choose “like”, “indifferent” or “dislike” according to his/her preference to the items or statements such as “contributing to charities”. The responses on the inventory are scored by computer and analyzed in reference to five types of scales: administrative indexes, personal style scales, general occupational theme scales, basic interest scales, and occupational scales.

General Occupational Theme

The components of the Strong Interest Inventory are the general occupational theme scales, the basic interest scales, the occupational scales and the personal interest scales. The General occupational themes have six types of themes which are realistic, investigative, artistic, social, enterprising and conventional. The six themes can be arranged around a hexagon (see graphic above) with the types most similar to each other falling next to each other, and those most dissimilar falling directly across the hexagon from one another. Scores on these scales represent a global view of an individual’s vocational and life-style interests. You may have one, two or three letter code. Although some people do not indicate interests in any of the Themes, or in only one of them, most show an average or a high degree of interest in two or three of them. Item content within each of the six general occupational themes is homogenous. Realistic contains occupations where individuals have an interest in working with objects such as tools and machines. Mechanical creativity and physical dexterity are important skills for this theme and some of the work activities of these occupations involve operating equipment, using tools, building, and repairing. Investigative theme centers around an interest in science, theories, ideas, and data. Analytical skills are important for this group and some of the common work activities are performing lab work, solving abstract problems and researching. Artistic theme includes occupations involving self-expression and art appreciation. Some of the skills needed in these occupations are creativity, talent, and artistic expression. Composing music, writing, and creating visual art are a few of the work activities involved in careers in this category. Social theme contains occupations that involve working with people such as human welfare and community service. People skills such as listening and showing understanding are very important for this category. Teaching, helping, and explaining are all potential work activities for this category. Enterprising theme refers to the occupations with an interest in business and leadership roles. Communicating with others and an ability to motivate and direct others are important skills for these occupations; selling, managing and persuading are all possible work activities. Conventional theme is consists of occupations with an interest in organization, data and finance. Math, data analysis, record keeping and attention to detail are all important skills for these occupations.

The results of the General Occupational Themes can identify the work environments in which the participant feels most comfortable, the kinds of people he/she enjoy, his/her values and attitudes, what motivates him/her and the leisure activities that he/she find enjoyable. In the represented hexagon of the scale, themes adjacent to one another on the hexagon, such as Realistic and Investigative, have more in common with one another than do themes directly opposite one another, such as Realistic and Social. The results may indicate that the interests are focused in one of the themes, or in a combination of the themes.

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Basic Interest Scales

The basic interest scales were designed to provide specific information about the likes and dislikes of the respondent. The 25 basic interest scales of the Strong Interest Inventory measure more specifically the homogenous interest areas measured by the General Occupational Themes. Each scale focuses on a narrow, concentrated interest area. Scores on these 25 scales represent individuals’ vocational and life-style interests but with greater specificity. It provides greater specificity of interests than do the general occupational themes and are, therefore, typically more predictive of occupation. The 25 scales are agriculture, ...

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