“Creating a Research Database on Holland’s Theory and Practical Tools”

1. “Creating a Research Database on Holland’s Theory and Practical Tools” Robert Reardon * Elizabeth Ruff

2. Introduction • Holland’s theory is one of the most widely known in career counseling • Purpose: • Compile a list of published materials over the past 40 years related to Holland’s RIASEC theory, the Self-Directed Search (SDS), and other Holland-based interventions.

3. Research ?’s • How has the number of publications related to Holland’s work changed from 1953 to 2007? • How has the number of publications related to Holland’s work in relation to Diverse Populations, Specific Populations, Alternative Forms of Assessment, Application, and Theory/Typology/Validity changed over time? • What is the relationship among the number of references in each of these categories? • What is the relationship between the number of references falling in Diverse Populations, Specific Populations, and both? • How many of the journal references were published in six of the most prestigious journals as compared to all other journals? • What types of references are most often cited relating to Holland’s work?

4. Materials Cambridge Scientific Abstracts (CSA): PsychInfo: 1887-present; journal articles, book chapters, books, technical reports, and dissertations in psychology and psychological aspects of related disciplines ERIC: 1996-present; sponsored by the U.S. DOE; educational-related literature, corresponds to two printed journals - Resources in Education (RIE) and Current Index to Journals in Education (CIJE) ISI Web of Science: Includes Science Citation Index, Social Science Citation Index, and Arts & Humanities Citation Index; links to some full text. JSTOR: Back issues of core journals in the humanities, social sciences, and physical sciences. Eureka: Major research, academic, public, corporate and national libraries, archives and museums, historical societies and international book vendors; resources range from books to films, sound recordings, photographs, manuscripts, serials and more.

5. Materials • RefWorks: • Web-based citation management system, enables construction of databases to store and organize bibliographic citations and creation of bibliographies based on standard styles. Citations may be exported, imported, or added manually. Multiple formats for bibliographies include (i.e., APA, MLA, Chicago) • Provided free of charge to Florida State University; available through any Internet connection • Was used in conjunction with the references found in previously mentioned online resources, as well as with other hard-copy resources

6. Categories Application Bibliography • References describing the way applications have been used in practice, e.g. for specific groups, with special populations, development of specific programs, etc. Alternate Forms Bibliography • References describing alternative copy righted forms published by PAR. Theory/Typology/Validity Bibliography • Reference citations relevant to the theoretical constructs and empirical evidence for the reliability and validity of Holland’s theory and assessments. Diverse Populations Bibliography • References describing populations specified by gender, race, nationality, special abilities, disabilities, socio-economic status, and sexual identification. Specific Populations Bibliography • References describing populations specified by major, occupation/field, area of interest, level of education, age, etc.

7. How has the number of references related to Holland’s work changed from 1953 to 2007? All References Over Time

8. What is the number of references related to Holland’s work in relation to the five categories?

9. How has the number of references related to Holland’s work in relation to the five categories changed over time? Applications Over Time

10. How has the number of references related to Holland’s work in relation to the five categories changed over time? Alternate Forms Over Time

11. How has the number of references related to Holland’s work in relation to the five categories changed over time? Theory/Typology/Validity Over Time

12. How has the number of publications related to Holland’s work in relation to the categories changed over time? Diverse Populations Over Time

13. How has the number of references related to Holland’s work in relation to the five categories changed over time? Specific Populations Over Time

14. What is the relationship between the number of references in each of these five categories over time ?

15. How many of the journal references were published in six of the most prestigious journals as compared to all other journals? Group A:Career Development Quarterly, Journal of Career Assessment, Journal of Counseling and Development, Journal of Counseling Psychology, Journal of Vocational Behavior and Measurement in Counseling and Development Group B: Other referenced journals

16. How Have the Big 6 Changed Over Time?

17. What types of references are most often cited relating to Holland’s work? Total # of References in Big 6: 507 Total # References in Other Journals: +595 Total # of References: 1102 Total # of Journals (excluding Big 6): 259

18. Conclusions Results suggest that John Holland’s work is not becoming obsolete given that research citations utilizing his theory and assessments are still strong; research appears to be published in waves rather than a steady slope of increased or decreased activity. The largest number of publications on this topic relate to the application of Holland’s theory and assessments. A significant portion of references relate to the use of Holland’s work with specific and diverse populations. Almost half of references were published in 6 of the most well known journals; however, 54% of the references were found in other journals (N = 259) representing different countries, academic disciplines, occupational fields, and populations. Most of these references are located in journals, although many can be found in other forms such as presentations, dissertations, books, and chapters.

19. Implications • The state of science in our field may be enhanced by creating other comprehensive bibliographies assessing the current state of research for different theories, assessments, and treatment methods. • Access to comprehensive bibliographies and databases may facilitate research activity among counseling and vocational psychologists. • Ideally, this database on Holland’s theory and applications will continue to be updated and improved over time. • What is the role of publishers, associations, Universities and individuals in developing and monitoring comprehensive research bibliographies?

20. Websites There is a plan to update the following websites annually Florida State University Tech Center Website: • Technical Report 47 by Reardon, R., Ruff, E., Cummings, S., and Lewis, M. • This report will have directions for developing a comprehensive bibliography, present a summary and an analysis of these findings, and include the entire bibliography and an Excel spreadsheet of all references • http://www.career.fsu.edu/techcenter/ Florida State University Library website - an online digital library: • This link also provides access to the Excel spreadsheet of references including Author, Date of Publication, Resource Title, Reference Title, and Category • http://digitool3.lib.fsu.edu/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=38192