The Development of Two Self-Assessment Work Value Instruments.

In response to input from the employment and training community, the Department of Labor's Assessment and Research Development Program (ARDP) and its state partners have developed two self-assessment work value instruments to be incorporated into career exploration and counseling programs. Computerized multiple rank-order and paper-and-pencil card-sorting instruments based on the Theory of Work Adjustment (R. V. Dawis and L. H. Lofquist, 1984) were developed. Ninety-six employment service clients completed one of the work value instruments during a pilot study. Four subsequent studies, involving 1,605 employment service customers and students from vocational/technical and junior colleges, were conducted to examine the psychometric properties of the instruments. Relationships between scores and the new work value instruments and scores on the Minnesota Importance Questionnaire (J. B. Rounds, G. A. Henly, R. V. Dawis, L. H. Lofquist, and D. J. Weiss, 1981) will be examined to determine construct validity. Respondent reaction data and administration times for the pilot test and the main studies are reported here. (Contains three tables and six references.) (SLD)