Clinical Judgment and the Utilization of Psychometric Instruments for Vocational Assessment

Abstract

BackgroundOver the last 40 years advances in the field of rehabilitation counseling continue to play a major role in the professional identity, skills, and competencies of rehabilitation counselors. While advances have developed in several areas (e.g., multiculturalism, ethics) within the scope of rehabilitation counseling research and practice, there are research gaps for vocational evaluation and the psychometric properties of instruments utilized for assessment.ObjectiveThis study sought to investigate what psychometric instruments rehabilitation counselors utilize for assessment. Primarily, our goal was to seek major details in how practicing rehabilitation counselors utilize psychometric assessments in their work environments and any ethical concerns involved with their use. We sought to investigate the presence of what assessment tools are commonly used by rehabilitation counseling practitioners and the frequency with which they are used.MethodsData from 228 participants was analyzed using a mixed-methods research design with a goal of obtaining both quantitative and qualitative data simultaneously. We sought to determine if there were any statistically significant differences on whether demographic variables affected the selection and use of psychometric assessments.FindingsAverage use of psychometric instruments for assessment use for the entire sample was low, at .66 (between “never” and “sometimes”). Average assessment use for the five subgroups ranged from .37 (body system function) to .99 (interests). Average use for individual assessments ranged from .08 to 2.07. There was a significant effect for education, (R2 = .039 F(1) = 8.82, p = .003).ConclusionsResults indicate higher education levels were associated with increased utilization of psychometric instruments. In addition, collaboration between psychometric assessments and clinical judgment have proven to be valuable in overall quality of rehabilitation services provided.