Basic+Assumptions+&+Examples+of+Positivist+Theories

◦ To facilitate the understanding of the forces that influence career choice and development. ◦ To stimulate research that will help to better clarify career choice and the development process. ◦ To provide a guide to practice in the absence of empirical guidelines
 * Functions of Theory (Brown, 2005, p. 27) **

◦ Behavior measured objectively if reliable, valid instruments utilized ◦ Behavior studied outside the context in which it occurs ◦ Research practices value-free. Researcher's values may not enter process or flawed ◦ Cause and effect relationships occur and measurable ◦ Results generalizable if certain conditions met (random sampling, use of reliability valid instruments, no contamination by researcher's values) ◦ Counselors must maintain objectivity, use reliable and valid instruments, and base their practice on well-designed empirical research || ** Assumptions: ** ◦ Behavior is nonlinear - cannot be studied objectively ◦ Cause and effect relationships cannot be determined ◦ People cannot be studied outside the context in which they function ◦ Research data cannot be generalized ◦ Research is not value-free; researcher's values should guide process ◦ The narratives students tell are legitimate sources of data ◦ Research is goal free: It is to be a search for actual effects based on demonstrated needs. Random sampling replace with purposeful sampling ◦ Researchers focus on narratives of clients, use qualitative assessment procedures, and help construct goals based on client's context in which they function || ||  ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||
 * ** Positivist (Modernist) Theories ** || ** Post Modern (Constructivist) ** ||
 * ** Assumptions: **

Basic Assumptions and Examples of Positivist Theories

◦ Based to some degree on the assumption that the factors that influence career choice and development are related to stages of personal and psychological development (Brown, p. 29) ◦ Tend to be more inclusive constructs ◦ More concerned with longitudinal expressions of career behaviors Inclined to highlight the importance of self-concept of how career behavior develops and changes over time Basic Premises of Developmental Theories: 1) Focus on stages of development (e.g. childhood or adolescence)   2) Focus on biological, psychological, sociological, and cultural factors that influence career choice, adjustments to and changes/withdrawal in career  || ** Assumptions ** ◦ focus on the learning processes that lead to self-efficacy beliefs and interests and how these impact the career decision-making process
 * Trait & Factor Theories || Developmental Theories || Learning Theories ||
 * ** Assumptions **
 * Vocational development is largely a cognitive process; decisions are to be reached by reasoning
 * Occupational choice is a single event. (Choice is stressed greatly and development little)
 * There is a single "right" goal for everyone in the choice of vocation. There is little or no recognition that a worker might fit well into a number of occupations.
 * single type of person works in each job. (One-person, one-job relationship)
 * There is an occupational choice available to each individual. || ** Assumptions **

account for the learning processes that lead to the acquisition of the beliefs and behaviors critical to the career development process || Super Gottfredson || * John Krumboltz
 * * P E Theory
 * John Holland's Theory of Vocational Personalities and Work Environments
 * The Minnesota Theory of Work Adjustment (MTWA)
 * Values-Based Theory of Occupational Choice || Ginzberg, Ginsburg, Axelrad & Herma
 * Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) - Lent, Brown, and Hackett
 * Career Information Processing Model of Career Choice ||