The effect of Occupational Investigation programs on ninth grade students as measured by the Career Maturity Inventory
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1974
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The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of participation in one or two semesters of Occupational Investigation pilot programs by ninth grade students as measured by the Career Maturity Inventory. To achieve this purpose, the following hypotheses were tested: 1. Due to the effect of the Occupational Investigation program, mean scores of ninth grade students who completed two semesters of the program will be significantly higher than the mean scores of ninth grade students who completed one semester of the program. 2. Due to the effect of the Occupational Investigation program, mean scores of ninth grade students who completed one semester of the program will be significantly higher than the mean scores of ninth grade students who did not participate in the program. 3. Due to the effect of the Occupational Investigation program, mean scores of ninth grade students who completed two semesters of the program will be significantly higher than the mean scores of ninth grade students who did not participate in the program. The sample for the study was selected from pilot programs of Occupational Investigation which were in their third year of operation. Experimental schools in the study were matched with control schools on the basis of ethnic composition, size of ninth grade class, and geographic location. The ninth grade class of each school in the study was administered the Career Maturity Inventory by a local counselor and data were obtained from Class Summary Reports. Analysis of variance (F test) was used to test for significant difference between class mean scores. The analysis was made between group means, within groups, and between matched experimental and control schools. The major findings of this study were: 1. Two semesters of Occupational Investigation increased mean scores of students on the Career Maturity Inventory over one semester program students. However, internal analysis of the one and two semester groups showed significant differences between mean scores within the groups which indicates that other factors may have influenced the differences. 2. One semester of Occupational Investigation increased mean scores of students on the Career Maturity Inventory, except on the Attitude Scale, in schools with large Mexican-American enrollments. 3. Two semesters of Occupational Investigation increased mean scores of students on the Career Maturity Inventory in schools with large Mexican-American student populations. Anglo students showed no significant gain after completing the two semester program.
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Major vocational education