MAPP™ Test Validity & Reliability Studies

The MAPP career assessment has undergone extensive validity and reliability testing, including correlating the results to the Strong Interest Inventory. However, unlike the Strong Interest Inventory, the MAPP test can be taken and read by consumers without having to engage the services of a professional.

Validity Studies

The first validity study,, conducted with 30 subjects in 1997, yielded correlations that suggest similarity between the MAPP and the Strong Interest Inventory. Occupational matches between the two tests ranged from 50 to 90 percent with a median correlation of 67 percent.

A second validity study with a larger sample of 133 people primarily employed in technology positions was conducted to compare the MAPP career test with the Strong Vocational Interest Inventory. The results of this study found that occupational preferences predicted by the MAPP were substantially similar to those predicted by the Strong Vocational Interest Inventory.

Reliability Studies

Reliability studies conducted with 32 adults employed full-time also indicate that the MAPP test is highly consistent over time. The test-retest reliability outcomes for worker traits came out at 95 percent (95 percent of the time, the outcomes were the same); test-retest reliability outcome for job ratings was 90 percent.

The high correlation was based on the fact that people tend to give the same answer each time they take the test. Test subjects were typically given the test again after a 9 month lapse, and about one-third of the test subjects had experienced a major life change. The test takers ranged in age from 26 to 67 (the median age was 49), and represented 28 different professional occupations.