ERIC Number: ED317613
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1989
Pages: 10
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Adapting Instruments for Use in Other Cultures.
Harrington, Thomas F.
The field testing process for the collection of data on the norms, reliability, and concurrent validity of the Career Decision-Making System (CDM) is described. The CDM is a comprehensive career planning instrument that surveys interests, values, abilities, and training plans and relates them to career information in client-oriented interpretive materials. There are five CDM versions: (1) United States English; (2) United States Spanish; (3) Canadian English; (4) Canadian French; and (5) Australian. The first step in the translation and adaptation process involved a local consultant's screening of the original assessment booklet and making any necessary changes. The second step was identification of tryout samples judged by a local consultant as typical. Testing of the Spanish CDM first involved 267 Hispanic high school students in the United States, with further testing with 648 Spanish-speaking junior high school and college students in Puerto Rico, California, Texas, and Massachusetts. The French translation was tested with 159 students in grades 8 and 9, and 342 students in grades 10 through 12. Canadian English and Australian CDM forms required less revision and testing, although adaptation of occupational classifications was necessary. Results for 1,387 workers in different occupations show support in general for the generalizability of occupational classification systems and the similarity of interest profiles of people performing the same job in different countries. Three tables present data from the studies. (SLD)
Descriptors: Adults, Career Planning, College Students, Comparative Testing, Cross Cultural Studies, Culture Fair Tests, Elementary School Students, English, Field Tests, Foreign Countries, French, Interest Inventories, Occupational Tests, Secondary School Students, Spanish, Test Construction, Test Reliability, Test Validity, Testing Problems
Publication Type: Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Australia; Canada; United States
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A