Monday 19 November 2012

Validating the Future Career Autobiography as a Measure of Narrative Change

an article by Mark C. Rehfuss (Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA, USA) and Annamaria Di Fabio (University of Florence, Italy) published in Journal of Career Assessment Volume 20 Number 4 (November 2012)

Abstract

This study examined the validity of the Future Career Autobiography (FCA; Rehfuss, 2009), a qualitative instrument designed to capture change or stability in individuals’ life and occupational narratives across time as a result of narrative career interventions.

Italian female entrepreneurs (N = 82) were randomly assigned into either an experimental group (n = 40) that received career counselling consistent with the Life Design paradigm or a control group (n = 42) that received no intervention.

The results indicated a significant narrative movement or change in the post-FCAs of the experimental group, moving from general to more specific life and occupational themes, while the control group’s pre- and post-FCAs remained similar across the same time period.

In addition, word count analysis revealed expanded narrative expression within the experimental group’s post-FCAs.

Together, these findings support the validity of this qualitative instrument.


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