Administration and Scoring of the Vocational Interest Survey. Information Paper.

The Vocational Interest Survey (VIS) is a set of six questionnaires for measuring vocational interests. It is designed to be used in career counseling with persons 15 years and over, who want to explore and understand their vocational interests. Completion of this inventory requires: (1) active participation of respondents, (2) a setting where individuals can concentrate, and (3) an understanding of the goal of this assessment. The purpose of this paper is to outline some aspects of the administration and scoring of the VIS, with special emphasis on the relative preference index. The VIS comes with instructions for administering and completing the survey. The reading level for the instructions is estimated to be at year 5/6 level. The VIS is designed to be essentially self-scoring. The procedure for computing raw scores is the same for all scales. Based on a sample of 2,459 men and women, combined-sex norms were developed as percentile ranks for each of the six scales. The Relative Preference Index (RPI) is used to make statements about a client's level of preference on each subscale. The RPI is a variation of a mastery score that shows quantity of preference. It describes the level of performance rather than the relative standing in a group. It is cautioned that any questionnaire should be employed as only one aspect of the vocational guidance process. (JAZ)