Instruments

The Personal Globe Inventory (PGI) is an inventory that assesses interests and self-estimates of ability in a wide variety of areas.  It provides a wealth of information that can be used in career and educational planning. There are two versions of the PGI: the PGI and the PGI-Short.  The PGI can be accessed online or through a downloadable Windows file.  

The PGI consists of two forms, based on item type, that can be used together or apart. One part consists of 108 occupational titles whereby the respondents are to rate the extent to which they like each occupation using a 7-point scale (1 = very strongly dislike, 7 = very strongly like). The other part of the PGI consists of 113 activities (108 tied to the spherical scales and 5 exploratory items) whereby the respondents respond twice, using a 7-point scale (1 = very strongly dislike, 7 = very strongly like) to rate the extent to which they like each occupation and then again using a 7-point scale (1 = unable to do, 7 = very competent) to rate their perceived competence. The two parts (occupational titles and activities) are generally administered together, but it is possible to administer either the occupational titles part or the activities part alone. Because they provide very similar scales, it might be desirable to give only one for brevity.

Six items comprise each scale for each of the item types (activity preferences, activity competence beliefs, and occupational preferences).  The means of the six items are used to represent each of the 18 spherical scales of the PGI.  So, 18 spherical scales are created separately for the occupational preference section, the activity preference section, and the activity competence belief section for a total of 54 spherical scales. To represent the combined scales across the three sets of 18 spherical scales, a set of 18 composite scores is calculated by taking the means of each scale across the three item types. In addition, weighted geometric composites of the 18 spherical scales are used to construct the RIASEC scales, Prediger’s 4 poles (People, Things, Data, and Ideas), and 3 summary dimensional scales (People vs Things, Data vs Ideas, and Prestige). The People/Things and Data/Ideas scales are scored in such a manner that high scores are associated with the first pole listed (e.g., high scores on People/Things reflect greater interest in people than in things). In addition, 4 other scales are calculated (People, Things, Data, and Ideas), and these are only the weighted composites created before they are combined into the two-dimensional scores. So, a total of 31 composite scales are provided (18 spherical scales, 6 RIASEC scales, 3 dimensional scales, and the 4 scales that were used to create the People/Things and Data/Ideas dimensional scales).

Each of these 31 scales is reported in five different ways. First, and perhaps the major scoring method, is the normed composite score reported in T score units relative to a sample of college and high school students described below. This composite score consists of the mean of the activity liking, activity preference, and occupational preference scales. Second, a same-gender normed score is provided for each of the 31 composite scales. Then separate normed scores are provided for, third, the activity liking scales and, fourth, the activity competence scales. Fifth, the instrument provides raw scores for each of the 31 scales. Thus, the interpreter can focus on a variety of normed, same-gender normed, and raw scores for use.

The links provide access to the PGI and its documentation.

Authors provide instrument validity and/or reliability information.