Examples, case studies, exercises
In administering this inventory one must consider the following possible situations:
- failure to provide an answer to certain items (if there are more than five such
situations in total, the results become invalid); these omissions may become
the object of supplementary interpretation: Are they accidental? Do they
occur only for some scales, sectors or categories? What other instrument
could be used to eliminate such occurrences?; - random marking of answers to the items in the inventory (as a consequence
of boredom, tiredness, misunderstanding the answer method, lack of
consideration for the questionnaire); these cases must be discussed with the
client and explanations must be found, then the adequate steps must be taken:
more motivation, alternative investigation instruments, etc.; - offering answers to both bi-polar situations, instead of only choosing one; the
situation can occur in case of fatigue, negligence or inattention, but also when
the clients equally prefers both situations; - frequent corrections of the answers given, as an effect of the personal
difficulty to making a choice, misunderstanding the instructions or rush in
decisions; more than five errors may lead to an uncertain profile, which will
generate interpretation difficulties and – above all – the impossibility for the
client to choose between the occupational alternatives offered by the
counsellor.
It must be brought to attention that a congruent profile of interests – obtained from the
COII –involves on the one hand a relationship between the scales:
Things (1) – Scientific (7) – Routine (3) – Solitary (9) – Production (0) and,
one the other hand, a connection between the scales:
People (6) – Business contacts (2) – Social (4) – Prestige (5).Nevertheless, one should not necessarily interpret as “incongruent” the profiles of
interests that do not follow the patterns. First of all an explanation will be sought from a
discussion with the client, discussion which will be focused on the client’s aspirations,
projects, inspirations, etc. It happens on occasion that an answer varies with the capacity
of the client to understand the tasks required during the completion of the inventory, the
extent to which the client understands the language of the inventory, the client’s
motivation and participation, the accuracy and completeness of the instructions given by
the counsellor, the counsellor’s competence in scoring and confronting with standards
and scales, etc.