pation among adults, and (3) correlational methodology (Spokane,
1986; Spokane et al., 2001).
In a third study of 456 female and 321 male Chinese high school
students in Hong Kong, Leung and Hou (2001) administered the
SDS (language unspecified). The College Majors Finder was used to
classify students’ preferred majors. Hit rates for male students were
lower than those for comparable U.S. students but similar for female
students (Leung & Hou, 2001). The authors conclude that the SDS
could be used to differentiate science- and arts-track students. Hit
rates (congruence) were comparable to those found in U.S. samples.
Leung and Hou, however, were careful to note that the classifica-
tions and the instruments were developed in the United States.
Finally, Leong and colleagues (1998) used a modified English
version of the VPI, which employs a five-position Likert scale (“do
not understand,” “does not exist in India,” “too low in status”) rather
than the usual three-position scale, as well as a measure of job satis-
faction, to examine congruence, consistency, and differentiation.
Congruence was minimally related to occupational satisfaction in
females (r= .20) and to job satisfaction among males (r= .14). The
authors addressed directly the issue of equivalence of measurement
by asking subjects to indicate when they did not understand the
meaning of an item (occupational title). Twenty-four percent (14 of
160) of items had 5 percent or more of subjects indicating that they
did not understand the item.
Day and Rounds (1998) examined the underlying structure of
interests comparing African American, Mexican American, Asian
American, Native American, and Caucasian American groups (n=
49,450), using three-way individual difference scaling. They con-
cluded that “10 groups’ responses reflected a remarkably similar un-
derlying structure, consistent with conventional interpretations of
vocational interpretations of vocational interest patterns” (p. 728).
The authors note the problems of differences in sampling. The dis-
cussion in this well-written article suggests that there may well be uni-
versals in the underlying structure of vocational interests and
personality (Day & Rounds, 1998). Similarly, Davison-Aviles and
HOLLAND’S THEORY 407