Career Decision-Making Study

Justin Clendening, Noel David, Ronny Parks

Tarleton State University Waco, Texas

Introduction

It was discussed there may be a correlation between

ones attitudes and their career paths. The resulting
hypotheses from that discussion were that there may be an
observable immediate effect after using a career planning
tool such as the Life Course chart (intervention hypothesis);
the other hypothesis was there may be common factors
between those that choose to seek help for career planning
than those that dont (volunteer hypothesis).
The life course chart was based on John Clausen's work.
The life course chart is meant to reveal an adolescent's view
of his or her future, indicating the level of planful
competence the subject may have. (Clausen, 1993)
The Measure used for this study is the Career Futures
inventory (CFI-9). The CFI-9 measures Career Adaptability,
Career Optimism, and Perceived Knowledge of the
employment market.
Methods

Participants
Students recruited from social science classes at Tarleton
State University, Waco campus.
Procedure
After giving their consent, they will fill out a pre-survey
and, if interested, participate in an activity. Shortly after
the activity, they will participate in a follow-up survey.
Participants may leave if they decline to participate in the
intervention.

Measures
Career Futures Inventory (CFI-9)
Life Course Chart
Volunteer Hypothesis: Groups are differentiated by
volunteering for the intervention or not. The measures are
analyzed using an independent samples t-test.
Intervention Hypothesis: the measures are compared
between pre-survey and post-survey using related
samples t-test.

Results

Reliability Statistics
Cronbach's Alpha N of Items
Adaptability
0.84
3
Optimism
0.95
2
Perceived
Knowledge
0.73
3

Group Statistics
Volunteer
Question

Adaptability No
Yes
Percieved
Knowledge
Optimism

3.33

0.64

0.24

14

3.1

0.95

0.25

2.14

1.18

0.45

14

2.1

0.82

0.22

3.29

1.07

0.41

14

3.29

No
Yes

S.E.
Mean

No
Yes

Std.
Deviation

Mean

1.1
0.3
I ndependent Samples Test

Levene's Test
for Equality of
Variances

t-test for Equality of Means

95%
Confidence
I nterval of the
Difference

Equal
Adaptability variances
assumed
Equal
variances
not
assumed
Equal
Percieved
variances
Knowledge
assumed
Equal
variances
not
assumed
Equal
Optimism
variances
assumed
Equal
variances
not
assumed

Sig.

0.7

0.414

0.4

0.1

Mean
Pair 1

Pair 1

Pair 1

0.551

df

Sig. (2tailed)

Mean
Difference

Std. Error
Difference

Upper

0.6

19

0.557

0.24

0.4

-0.6

1.07

0.68

16.98

0.505

0.24

0.35

-0.5

0.98

0.11

19

0.915

0.05

0.44

-0.87

0.97

0.1

8.99

0.926

0.05

0.5

-1.08

1.18

19

0.51

-1.06

1.06

12.41

0.5

-1.09

1.09

0.752

Paired Sample Descriptive Statistics

Std.
S.E.
N
Deviation
Mean

Adaptability

2.93

10

1.03

0.33

Adaptability2

3.37

10

0.29

0.09

Optimism

3.05

10

1.23

0.39

Optimism2

3.45

10

0.69

0.22

1.93

10

0.78

0.25

2.27

10

0.52

0.16

Perceived
Knowledge
Perceived
Knowledge2

Lower

Pair 1
Pair 1

Pair 1

Adaptability
&
Adaptability2
Optimism &
Optimism2
Perceived
Knowledge &
Perceived
Knowledge2

Correlation

Sig.

10

0.3

0.406

10

0.1

0.78

10

0.78

0.008

Pair 1

Pair 1

Adaptability Adaptability2
Optimism Optimism2
Perceived
Knowledge Perceived
Knowledge2

Mean

Std.
Deviation

Std. Error
Mean

Lower

Upper

df

Sig. (2tailed)

-0.43

0.98

0.31

-1.14

0.27

-1.4

0.196

-0.4

1.35

0.43

-1.37

0.57

-0.94

0.373

-0.33

0.5

0.16

-0.69

Discussion

Paired Samples Test

95% Confidence Interval of the Difference

Pair 1

Paired Samples Correlations

N

Volunteer Hypothesis
An independent samples t-test was used to compare
the pre-survey mean score for the three measures. The
test was found to be statistically insignificant at an
alpha level of .05. The various measures had much
higher significant figures than the alpha level.
The strength of the relationship between volunteers
and the variables were all small in effect as indexed
by r2.
The confidence interval for the means varied widely
between the variables.
Intervention Hypothesis
A paired sample t-test was used to compare the mean
pre-survey and the mean post-survey scores. This test
was found to be statistically insignificant at an alpha
level of .05. There was low predictability among the
three variables to anticipate a participants reaction to
the Life Course chart.
Results from the pre-survey (means and standard
deviation) were lower than the results from the postsurvey.
The strength of the relationship between the activity
and the three variables were medium to large effects.
The confidence interval for the means varied widely
between the variables.

0.02

-2.12

0.063

The results of this study are limited due to a small

sample size and limited demographic representation.
Due to limited time and resources, there was no
comparison control group included in this study.
A scale was missing during the administration of the
surveys and was left out due to incomplete data.
The resulting data does show small trends of
improvement from pre-survey to post-survey. Further
research will be needed to verify this.
References
Clausen, J. A. (1993). American lives: Looking back at the children of the
Great Depression. Berkeley: University of California Press.