Motivational factors influencing the job choices of disadvantaged workers in vocational training programs

In order to examine the nature of job choice, the present study used a paired comparison Inventory to determine, 1) the relative perceived importance of Intrinsic job factors and, 2) the possible influence of cartoon drawings on subjects' responses. A Cartoon Form and a Verbal Form of a paired comparison Inventory developed by Champagne (1967) were presented to 189 disadvantaged Negro and Mexican-American trainees in four federally supported vocational training programs in Houston, Texas. Males and females, within each racial group, were Randomly assigned to the Cartoon Form or to the Verbal Form. In general, the results indicated that the relative perceived importance of the intrinsic job factors is moderate for both male and female subjects. The average rank of the intrinsic job factors was slightly higher than the average rank of the extrinsic job factors for both forms of the inventory. There was no significant disagreement between the responses of the subjects receiving the Cartoon Fora and subjects receiving the Verbal Form. The interest value and the difficulty level did not differ significantly for the Cartoon Form and the Verbal Form. The Spearman rank correlation coefficient between the two forms for all subjects was .90, which was significant at the .01 level. However, the level of agreement between the two forms for four subgroups of subjects varied. There was very high agreement for Negro females, moderately high agreement for Mexican-American males and females, and a low level of agreement for Negro males. The reliabilities for the verbal Form were slightly higher than the Cartoon Form reliabilities. Finally, it was concluded that the use of cartoon drawings in a paired comparison inventory does not seem to be worth the extra effort and expense when the Instrument is administered by the researcher in a group situation.