Unidimensionality Versus Multidimensionality of the Career Decision Scale: A Critique of Martin, Sabourin, Laplante, and Coallier

During the past 15 years the Career Decision Scale (CDS) has been used primarily to assess degree of indecision. Controversy has arisen around the issue of whether it should thus be considered a unidimensional measure or whether it is a multidimensional measure of several dimensions of career indecision. Although a number of studies reported significant empirical support for the multidimensionality of the CDS, a study by Martin, Sabourin, Laplante, and Coallier (1991) claimed to present evidence supporting its unidimensionality. The present study refutes those claims by demonstrating serious methodological and conceptual errors and omissions in the findings of Martin et al. (1991) and by presenting further empirical evidence in support of multidimensionality.