CDP Manual

Reliability and Validity

In general, the CDP has satisfactory reliability for counseling use. Three-week retest reliabilities for the scales generally fall in the .70s, ranging from .66 to .80 (Jones, 1989b). Three studies in this country (Brisbin & Savickas, 1994; Jones, 1989b; Murry, 1989) reported alpha coefficients for the scales ranging from .59 to .84, with most falling in the mid- to high .70s. A study of high school students in New Zealand (Tuck et al., 1995) found that the reliability of the Decidedness and Decisiveness scales and the correlations between them were similar to those reported in the original validation study (Jones, 1989b). Specific information on reliability for each scale is discussed later.

Evidence of the validity of the scales has also been supportive. Of particular interest to counselors was Heppner and Hendrick’s (1995) report of successful counseling with a career undecided college student. They reported that the pre- and post-measures of all CDP scales showed significant movement in the direction expected. Decidedness and Comfort went up (i.e., from 9 to 16, and 7 to 13, respectively), and the Reasons scales all went down. The CDP scales have correlated with measures of anxiety, identity, career salience, self-efficacy, and with other measures of career indecision as expected. For diagnostic and divergent validity, the intercorrelations between the four Reasons scales need to be relatively low, and the evidence suggests that they are (Jones, 1989b); among the six intercorrelations, five were .22 or less, and one was .41. Also supportive of these four scales are the subsequent factor analyses of the CDP which have been confirmatory (DeBruin & DuToit, 1997; Murry, 1989), supporting a four-factor solution. The validity and reliability of each scale are discussed in the following section.

Decidedness Dimension

The retest reliability for this scale over a 3-week period was .66 (Jones, 1989b). Although this may seem undesirably low, Hartman and his colleagues (Hartman, Fuqua, & Jenkins, 1986; Hartman, Utz, & Farnum, 1979) believe that modest retest correlations are a more accurate reflection of the construct of career indecision because it is inherently unstable. The alpha coefficients reported for this scale were .85 (Jones, 1989b), .84 (Murry, 1989), and .63 (Brisbin & Savickas, 1994) for college students and .74 and .82 with high school students (Multon, Heppner, & Lapan, 1995). With regard to construct validity, Decidedness correlates as expected (i.e., -.46) with an index of career indecision (Slaney, 1980) and with a measure of career salience (.39; Greenhaus & Simon, 1977). Evidence of discriminant validity was reported by two studies (Jones, 1989b; Phillips, 1983), indicating low correlations between Decidedness and Scholastic Aptitude scores.

Comfort Dimension

Three-week retest reliability for this scale was .76 (Jones, 1989b). Among college students the alpha coefficients found for this scale were .82 (Jones, 1989b), .78 (Murry, 1989), .77 (Brisbin & Savickas, 1994) and .66 and .72 with high school students (Multon et al., 1995). Comfort correlated as expected with measures of career indecision (-.31; index of career indecision, Slaney, 1980) and trait anxiety (-.53; State-Trait Anxiety Inventory [STAI], Spielberger, Gorsuch, Lushene, Vagg, & Jacobs, 1983) among college students (Jones, 1989b) and .49 and .40 with measures of self-efficacy among high school students (Multon et al., 1995).

Reasons Dimension

Self-Clarity

A 3-week retest reliability of .80 was reported by Jones (1989b). The internal reliability coefficients for high school students were .76 and .84 (Multon et al., 1995) and .77 (Jones, 1989b), .80 (Murry, 1989), .86 (Brisbin & Savickas, 1994) for students in college. Jones (1989b) found that the Self-Clarity scale correlated, as expected, with trait anxiety (-.37; STAI) andidentity achievement status (.36; Identity Achievement Scale [IAS], Simmons, 1973). Further evidence of the validity of the Self-Clarity scale was reported by Wanberg and Muchinsky (1992): .68 with the Vocational Identity scale of the My Vocational Situation (MVS; Holland, Daiger, & Power, 1980); -.30 and -.31 with a measure of state and trait anxiety (STAI), respectively; and .36 with a measure of self-esteem (Janis Field Feelings of Inadequacy Scale [JFI, Janis & Field, 1959; revised by Eagly, 1967).

Although Jones (1989b) found a moderate correlation (.36) between this scale and a measure of identity-status (IAS), it does not differentiate all status groups. As Brisbin and Savickas (1994) report, “the three measures of career indecision [MVS, CDS, and CDP] could discriminate the diffused and moratorium groups from each other and from the identity and foreclosed groups. However, the measures did not discriminate between the achieved and foreclosed groups.” (p. 357).  At the scale level, the CDP Self-Clarity and Decisiveness Scales appear to be the most sensitive in differentiating the achieved and foreclosed groups, although these differences were not statistically significant.” (p. 361).

Knowledge About Occupations & Training

Jones (1989b) reported a 3-week retest reliability of .67 for this scale. The alpha coefficients reported for this scale were .68 (Jones, 1989b), .72 (Murry, 1989), and .80 (Brisbin & Savickas, 1994) among college students and .69 and .76 for high school students (Multon et al., 1995). This scale correlated .57 with the Occupational Information scale of the MVS (Wanberg & Muchinsky, 1992) and it is unrelated to measures of anxiety (STAI) and identity (IAS).

Decisiveness

Three-week retest reliability for the Decisiveness scale was .71 (Jones, 1989b). Internal consistency estimates among college students were .79 (Jones, 1989b), .84 (Murry, 1989), .59 (Brisbin & Savickas, 1994) and .82 and .81 among high school students (Multon et al., 1995). With respect to validity, Multon et al. (1995) found that the Goal Instability Scale (GIS;Robbins & Patton, 1985) correlated with the Decisiveness scale (-.56) in a study of high school students. The GIS is designed to measure an individual’s “lack of goal directedness and inhibition in work” (Robbin & Patton, p. 226). The Decisiveness scale was significantly related to trait anxiety (STAI) in two studies (-.40 by Wanberg & Muchinsky, 1992; and -.35, Jones, 1989b), as well as to measures of social anxiety (Self-Consciousness Scale; Fenigstein, Scheier, & Buss, 1975) and self-esteem (JF) (-.38 and .47, respectively; Wanberg & Muchinsky, 1992). In a related study, Phillips and Bruch (1988) found that the Self-Uncertainty scale of the VDS (which uses the same items as the Decisiveness scale) differentiated between shy and non-shy undergraduates; shy students were more indecisive and less likely to engage in career information-seeking activities.

Career Choice Importance

A 3-week retest reliability of .78 was reported by Jones for this scale (1989b). The alpha coefficients with high school students were .79 and .70 (Multon et al., 1995) and .73 (Jones, 1989b), .54 (Murry, 1989), .59 (Brisbin & Savickas, 1994) for college students. This scale correlated .45 with the Career Salience Questionnaire (Greenhaus & Simon, 1977) in one study (Jones, 1989b).

How CDP Scales Relate to Each Other

Decidedness and Comfort

There is a positive relationship (.53) between the Decidedness and Comfort scales among college students (Jones, 1989b). In general, the more decided individuals are, the more comfortable they are with where they are in making a decision, and vice-versa. However, this is certainly not a uniform pattern. For example, when the students from an introductory psychology class were assigned to the four quadrants formed by these two scales, 20.8% were categorized as decided-uncomfortable, 42.5% were decided-comfortable, 29.0% were undecided-uncomfortable, and 7.7% were undecided-comfortable. In other words, 28% did not follow the general pattern. These findings underscore the importance of making no assumptions about individuals’ level of comfort based on their level of career decidedness.

Reasons Scales

The four scales assessing the Reasons dimension are relatively independent of each other (Jones, 1989b); most of their intercorrelations are low (five were .22 or less, and one was .41). In this same study, 31% of the college students scored low (in the lower one third of the scale) on just one of the Reasons scales, 17% scored low on two scales, 4% scored low on three scales, and less than 1% scored low on all four scales. There is a closer relationship between the Self-Clarity and Knowledge About Occupations and Training scales (.41) than is true for the other scales; 47% of the Self-Clarity low scorers also scored low on the Knowledge scale. In sum, counselors can place some confidence in the independence of these scales; each scale measures something different but they are not completely unrelated to each other, particularly the Self-Clarity and Knowledge scales.

2020 Updates

Two changes were made for the online version of the CDP.  First, the original 8-point scale was changed to 7-points.  This allows for a reduction in size that fits better in the smaller devices, like cell phones.  It also a) looks more like the rating scales that people typically see online, b) should make it easier for them to rate themselves, and c) allows for an additional scaling label: Neutral.  These changes are unlikely to change the psychometric characteristics of the scales, but this will be investigated in future studies.

Secondly, a few changes were made in the wording of the CDP’s items.  This was done so that they would apply to a larger audience — adults as well as students — and to reflect the idea that career well-being is now considered a broader concept, “Do I like what I do each day?” In addition to paid employment, this career activity might be done outside of paid work — like a hobby, art, or being a full-time parent — or in retirement — like volunteer work, starting a small business or philanthropy, or pursuing music.

And, finally a “Barrier” scale was added to reflect the reality that people sometimes face a major obstacle that keeps them from making the career choice that they really want to make.  This could involve, for example, fear of disappointing parents or a loved one, not having the funds to pursue the education or training required, being too far along in a college major to change, family obligations, or significant health problems.  The two items added are doubled in value to reflect the heightened importance of the barrier for the person’s overall decision making, as compared to the other reasons scales.

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Additional Resources

To learn more about career readiness and the differentiated service delivery model, we recommend you consult:

Sampson, J. P., Jr. (2008). Designing and implementing career programs: A handbook for effective practice. Broken Arrow, OK: National Career Development Association.

Sampson, J. P., Jr., McClain, M., Musch, E., and Reardon, R. C. (2013) Variables affecting readiness to benefit from career interventions. The Career Development Quarterly, 61, 98-109.

Related:

About Career Decision Profile > How the Inventory Works

About Career Decision Profile > Explore Client Indecision