Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-8kt4b Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-30T10:23:53.784Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Discriminant Analysis in Career Studying “Decision/Indecision”: The Career Factors Inventory (CFI) as a Diagnostic Measure

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 January 2013

Ana Sousa Ferreira  and
Rosário Lima
Ana Sousa Ferreira*
Affiliation:
Universidade de Lisboa (Portugal)
Rosário Lima
Affiliation:
Universidade de Lisboa (Portugal)
*
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Ana Sousa Ferreira. Universidade do Lisboa. Faculdade de Psicologia Alameda da Universidade. 1649-013 Lisboa. (Portugal). Phone: +35-1217943600. Fax:+35-1217933408. Email: asferreira@fp.ul.pt
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Literature has shown that, nowadays, a multidimensional approach to decision-making has become prioritized. The Careers Factor Inventory (CFI) is, in fact, a multidimensional measurement instrument for evaluating career indecision, which may be useful in the diagnosis of adaptation behaviors in terms of career decision versus indecision. This study emerges as a follow-up to a previous study which used the CFI on a sample of university students in which this measurement instrument was found to be capable of distinguishing Low decided vs. Highly decided groups and to evaluate the discriminatory capacity of the CFI scales. It is the aim, here, to further analyse the results obtained in such study with a view to grounding the importance of the use of this Inventory as an instrument for distinguishing people who present different decision levels in relation to their careers. In this study, 494 university students from a number of higher education establishments and courses are part of the afore mentioned Low decided and Highly decided groups. The collected data were analysed by means of Discrete Discriminant Analysis models and corroborate the discriminant power of the Inventory and its use as a diagnostic instrument in the psychological intervention of career counseling and development.

La literatura muestra que, en estos días, una aproximación multidimensional de la toma de decisiones se ha vuelto prioritaria. El Inventario de Factor de Carreras (Careers Factor Inventory; CFI) es, de hecho, un instrumento de medida multidimensional para evaluar la indecisión en la elección de carrera, lo que puede ser útil para el diagnóstico de conductas adaptativas en términos de decisión versus indecisión en la elección de carrera. Este estudio emerge como continuación de un estudio previo que utilizó el CFI en una muestra de estudiantes universitarios en la que éste instrumento de medida ha sido capaz de distinguir entre grupos de Baja decisión vs. Alta decisión, y para evaluar la capacidad discriminatoria de las medidas CFI. El objetivo aquí es continuar analizando los resultados obtenidos en ese estudio con vistas a determinar la importancia del uso de este Inventario como instrumento para distinguir a las personas que presenten diferentes niveles de decisión en relación a sus carreras. En este estudio, 494 estudiantes de diversos cursos de instituciones de educación superior son parte de los grupos ya mencionados Baja-decisión y Alta-decisión. Los datos recogidos fueron analizados mediante el modelo de Análisis Discriminante Discreto y corroboran el poder discriminante del Inventario y su uso como instrumento diagnóstico en la intervención y psicológico de la elección de carrera y la orientación vocacional.

Keywords

discriminant analysisdecisionpersonal developmentdiagnosiscareer guidanceanálisis discriminantedecisióndesarrollo personaldiagnósticoorientación vocacional
Type
Research Article
Information
The Spanish Journal of Psychology , Volume 13 , Issue 2 , November 2010 , pp. 927 - 940
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Brito, I., Celeux, G., & Sousa Ferreira, A. (2006). Combining methods in supervised classification: A comparative study on discrete and continuous problems. RevStat: Statistical Journal, 4(3), 201–225.Google Scholar
Celeux, G., & Nakache, J. P. (1994). Analyse discriminante sur variables qualitatives. [Discriminant analysis with qualitative variables]. Paris: Polytechnica.Google Scholar
Chartrand, J. M., Robbins, S. B., Morrill, W. H., & Boggs, K. (1990). Development and validation of the career factors inventory. Journal of Counselling Psychology, 37(4), 491–501.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Feldman, D. C. (2003). The antecedents and consequences of early career indecision among young adults. Human Resource Management Review, 13, 499–531.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fraga, S., & Lima, M. R. (2005). Avaliação do processo de aconselhamento de carreira em estudantes do ensino superior: Estudo preliminar. [Evaluation of counseling career process with university students. Preliminary study]. Proceedings of the AIOSP/IAEVG International Conference – Lisbon/2005 “Careers in Context: New Challenges and Tasks for Guidance and Counselling”. Associação Internacional de Orientação Escolar e Profissional. Lisboa (CD-Rom).Google Scholar
Gati, I., Krausz, M., & Osipow, S. H. (1996). A taxonomy of difficulties in career decision making. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 43, 510–526.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holland, M. L., Daiger, D. C., & Power, P. G. (1980). My vocational situation: Description of an experimental diagnostic form for the selection of vocational assistance. Palo Alto, California: Consulting Psychologists Press.Google Scholar
Lewis, D. M., & Savickas, M. L. (1995). Validity of the Career Factors Inventory. Journal of Career Assessment, 3(1), 44–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lima, M. R. (1998). Orientação e desenvolvimento da carreira em estudantes universitários. Um estudo das atitudes de planeamento e exploração, identidade vocacional, saliência dos papéis e factores de carreira. [Guidance and career development with university students. Study of planning and exploration attitudes, vocational identity, role salience and career factors] (Unpublished doctoral dissertation), Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal.Google Scholar
Lima, M. R. (2005). A prática da orientação da carreira como aconselhamento psicológico no ensino superior. [The career guidance practice as psychological counselling in higher education]. In Pereira, A. S., & Motta, E. D. (Eds.), Social action and psychological counseling in higher education: Research and intervention. Proceedings of the National Congress: Serviços de Acção Social da Universidade de Coimbra, Portugal.Google Scholar
Lima, M. R., & Fraga, S. (2008, February ). Avaliação do processo de aconselhamento de carreira: Um estudo de follow-up. [Career counselling process evaluation: A follow-up study]. Paper presented at the IV Vocational Development Conference. I Virtual Conference Research and Learning. Instituto de Educação e Psicologia. Universidade do Minho, Portugal.Google Scholar
Lima, M. R., & Gouveia, A. T. (2003). The importance of counselor's practice regarding psychological help and counseling. Proceedings of the IAEVG-AIOSP World Congress Counsellor – Profession, Passion, Calling? (pp. 298–305). Warsaw, Poland.Google Scholar
Lima, M. R., Sousa Ferreira, A., & Doria, I. (2004). Career Indecision in Higher Education: New Developments with Multivariate Data Analysis. Notas e Comunicações do Centro de Estatística e Aplicações da Universidade de Lisboa (CEAUL), N° 13/2004.Google Scholar
Osipow, S. H. (1999). Assessing career indecision. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 55, 147–154.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Santos, P. J., & Coimbra, J. L. (2000). Psychological separation and dimensions of career indecision on secondary school students. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 56, 346–362.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Savickas, M. L. (2005). The theory and practice of Career Construction. In Brown, S., & Lent, R. (Eds.), Career development and counselling. Putting theory and research to work (pp. 42–70). New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Silva, J. M. T. (1994). Validade de um Questionário de Interesses Expressos como Medida da Indecisão de Carreira. Revista Portuguesa de Pedagogia, 3, 371–390.Google Scholar
Silva, J. M. T. (1997). Dimensões da indecisão da carreira. Investigação com adolescentes. [Career indecision dimensions. Research with adolescents] (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Universidade de Coimbra, Portugal.Google Scholar
Silva, J. M. T. (2004). Avaliação da indecisão vocacional. In Leitão, L. M. (Coord.), Avaliação psicológica em orientação escolar e profissional (pp. 347–386). Coimbra: Quarteto.Google Scholar
Sousa Ferreira, A. (1987). Análise Factorial Discriminante. [Factorial Discriminant Analysis] (Unpublished master's thesis). Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal.Google Scholar
Sousa Ferreira, A. (2000). Combinação de Modelos em Análise Discriminante sobre Variáveis Qualitativas. [Combining models in Discrete Discriminant Analysis] (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal.Google Scholar