Toni Babarović

The Validity of Holland's Theory in Croatia.

The validity of Holland’s theory in the Croatian sample has been tested. The Croatian version of Holland’s Self-Directed Search was applied on 1,866 Croatian adolescents from different age samples. The instrument has shown a good reliability of all RIASEC scales in all subsamples. Construct validity was also verified: The presence of circular structure of RIASEC types and two underlying dimensions was mostly confirmed, and hypothesized relations between RIASEC types and value orientations were found. Concurrent validity shows that on the basis of Holland’s RIASEC scores one can predict the educational program in which the student is enrolled. The results support the validity of Holland’s theory in the Croatian sample.

Assessment of Values and Role Salience

This chapter examines the methodological issues associated with the measurement of values and role salience and reviews representative measures that have been used in their assessment. The authors begin by explaining the concepts of roles and role salience and the constructs of life values and work roles, and reviewing taxonomies of values. Assessment approaches, measurement techniques and related methodological problems are then considered. Existing inventories for assessment of values and role salience are briefly described. The conclusion discusses the use of values and role salience assessment in career guidance.

The Relation between School Entrance Age and School Achievement during Primary Schooling: Evidence from Croatian Primary Schools.

BACKGROUND Compulsory school entrance age and admission policies differ across countries and educational systems, and there is a continuing debate on the question whether and how the age at school entry affects various student outcomes. AIMS This study explored the relation between school entrance age and school achievement among students attending fourth (ages 10-11) and eighth (ages 14-15) grade of Croatian primary schools. SAMPLE Participants were 44,479 fourth- and 43,338 eighth-grade students from all Croatian primary schools. Students were divided into groups of younger and older school entrants based on the difference between the year of birth and the year of school entry. METHODS Differences in school achievement between students who were younger and those who were older when they entered school in subjects covered by the curriculum for respective grades were examined among fourth- and eighth-grade students. Two achievement measures were used for each subject-objective test results obtained during a national examination and final school marks appointed by teachers. RESULTS Among fourth-grade students, older school entrants on average performed slightly better than the younger ones in all the subjects, irrespective of the achievement measure used. However, these differences in achievement are very small, and the effect of school entrance age on achievement is very weak. In the eighth-grade sample, younger and older school entrants did not differ in their achievement in the majority of subjects. CONCLUSIONS Students who are older when they enter school perform slightly better than their older classmates in the lower grades of primary school, but these differences in achievement are very small and are probably no longer present by the end of primary schooling.

Conducting Cognitive Interviews With Young Children —Experiences From the Measuring Youth Well-Being Project

This case study is based on our work within the Measuring Youth Well-Being FP7 EU project in (a) developing a research design for cross- cultural cognitive interviews for testing a survey’s well-being questions with young children (aged 7 and 8), (b) coordinating fieldwork in six countries, and (c) conducting these interviews in Croatia. This case study describes the main issues and challenges in developing research designs, as well as obstacles and strategies implemented during cross-country fieldwork. More specifically, this case study discusses (a) the main elements of research design, (b) obtaining ethical approval and parental consent, (c) fieldwork experiences regarding children’s reactions and behavior during cognitive interviews, (d) duration and context of interviews, and (e) strengths and weaknesses of the applied study protocols and probes. We believe that this case study will be useful to those who wish to use cognitive interviews with children for testing survey questions regardless of survey topics

Career Maturity Indicators in Adolescence: Convergence of Different Measures

Career maturity is a multidimensional construct that represents an individual’s ability to cope with career construction tasks during a particular period of life. In adolescence, a simple indicator of career maturity is the existence of a clear career choice and a commitment to a specific career. Holland’s theory proposed that differentiation and consistency of vocational interests also reflect career maturity, as individuals with differentiated and consistent interests have fewer difficulties in career decision-making and are therefore more likely to express high career maturity. However, the majority of studies have found very weak or negligible correlations between career maturity and differentiation, or between career maturity and consistency of interests. In this study, along with traditional measures of differentiation and consisteny, we used newmeasures derived from the complete RIASEC profile of vocational interests based on the cosine function. Therefore, in this study we explored the relations between career maturity and three career-development constructs—differentiation, consistency of interests, and profile elevation—using both traditional and new measures. We assessed a sample of 568 adolescents in the final year of secondary school (age 17–18) with the Personal Globe Inventory, the Career Choice Clarity Scale, and the Student Career Construction Inventory through an online testing platform. Our results indicate generally low and unsubstantial correlations between various measures of career maturity and measures of differentiation, as well as low correlations between career maturity and consistency. Correlations between measures of career maturity and profile elevation are also low. The results of this study suggest that Holland’s secondary constructs are unrelated to measures of career maturity.

How to Develop Well-Being Survey Questions for Young Children: Lessons Learned from Cross-Cultural Cognitive Interviews

There are several major challenges related to conducting cross-cultural well-being surveys, which are even more pronounced when respondents are young children. In order to explore how young children from different countries understand, interpret and process well-being survey questions, within the MYWeB project, the cognitive interviews (CI) study was conducted with young children in six European countries. The specific research objective was to test new/adapted measures of well-being, and the CI testing was focused on comprehension and appropriateness of items and exact wording, recall and judgement in the given time frames, and the given response format among young children. The CI study was conducted in three consecutive rounds, in total, 77 seven year-olds and 118 eight year-olds (N = 195) were interviewed by 26 interviewers. The chapter discuss the main findings and presents general recommendations on how to develop and conduct a well-being survey that is age-appropriate for young children.

The Validity of Career Decision-Making Difficulties Questionnaire in Croatia

The aim of this study was to develop and test the psychometric properties of the Croatian paper-and-pencil and Internet versions of the Career Decision-Making Difficulties Questionnaire (CDDQ). The CDDQ is based on the theoretical taxonomy of difficulties in career decision-making and comprises three major clusters of difficulties: Lack of readiness, lack of information, and inconsistent information that are further divided into 10 specific types of difficulties. The paper-and-pencil version and the Internet version were filled out by 451 and 568 high school students, respectively. Both versions of the Croatian CDDQ showed to be reliable and structurally equivalent measures. A hierarchical cluster analysis and confirmatory factor analysis generally supported the three-cluster classification system of career decision-making difficulties, with the exception of the Dysfunctional Beliefs Scale that was not significantly associated with any of the other scales. The associations between the CDDQ Scales on the one hand, and two measures of career maturity—Student Career Construction Inventory and Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy Scale—were moderate and negative and thus supported the concurrent validity of the CDDQ. The results suggest revising the dysfunctional beliefs subscale or using the CDDQ without this scale in counseling practice.

School Effectiveness: An Overview of Conceptual, Methodological and Empirical Foundations

This chapter provides an overview of the conceptual, methodological and primary empirical foundations of school-effectiveness research. Explanations of the concepts of educational quality, effectiveness and efficacy are provided, and the main research findings regarding school and educational effectiveness are presented, along with a basic review of the historical development of this area of research. The most important methodological approaches and advances in school-effectiveness research in the areas of construct operationalization, criteria selection, data analysis and research design are then described. Finally, some important findings from empirical studies of school effectiveness in South-Eastern Europe, with a special emphasis on studies conducted in the Croatian primary-education system, are presented.

The Theoretical Background of Computer Assisted Career Guidance Systems

The paper examines modern computer-assisted career guidance systems, their main characteristics, as well as their theoretical foundation. First we describe the development of systems for computer-assisted career guidance, with the emphasis on the current generation of on-line counseling systems. Then the concept of congruence or person-environment fit is explained: the individuals who have chosen careers which are in accordance with their personal characteristics are more likely to be both satisfied with their jobs and successful at work. Although the concept of congruence is the main basis of theories of vocational choice and computer-assisted career guidance systems, the results of all important meta-analyses show a weak relationship between P-E congruence and job satisfaction. Possible explanations for this finding are identified and the aspect- -based approach is presented as a possible solution. Finally, seven best-known on-line systems for vocational counseling are described: Discover, SIGI, O*Net, Making Better Career Decisions, Careers Guide, Career Choice and Pictorial and Descriptive Interest Inventory.