Vocational Hierarchies: How Do We Count The Ways?

Abstract The present study explores the relationships among six different measures of construct ordination in the context of vocational value systems. Fifty-seven subjects were given a 10 by 10 rating grid, an implications grid, and a resistance-to-change grid, all utilizing the same set of 10 occupational constructs. Ordination measures were calculated for each of the 10 constructs, using all six methods–explicit rating, implicit rating, extremity, total variance, implications, and resistance to change–and correlations were computed between each pair of methods. The total variance among all six methods that was accounted for by each method is also reported. On this basis, the implicit method emerges as the best omnibus method. However, the question arises whether the six methods measure ordination with unequal fidelity or actually measure differing aspects of ordination, highlighting the need for further study in this area.

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