Changing of the Guard: Interpretive Continuity of the 2005 Strong Interest Inventory

Abstract

This study is the first to examine the equivalence of the 2005 Strong Interest Inventory with the 1994 Strong. The authors examine the parallel content scales of the two versions for female and male college students separately (n = 622). The scales include the six General Occupational Themes (GOTs), 22 of the 25 Basic Interest Scales (BISs) of the 1994 Strong, and four of the Personal Style Scales (PSSs). The mean differences between the two Strong were mostly within .5 of a standard deviation (Cohen’s d < .5). There was a pattern of slightly higher means on the 2005 Strong, possibly because of the 2005 Strong standardization sample compares to the 1994 norm group, being more ethnically diverse, less educated, and more representative of the 2000 U.S. Census. The correlations of the 1994 and 2005 content scales were ≥ .85 for the GOTs and PSSs, except for the Risk Taking/Adventure PSS. The 1994 and 2005 analoged US BIS correlations ranged from .64 to .97. The effect sizes for sex were comparable across versions.