A LONGITUDINAL STUDY WAS UNDERTAKEN TO ACHIEVE THE FOLLOWING OBJECTIVES--(1) TEST THE THEORY OF OCCUPATIONAL CHOICE WHICH PROPOSES A PROCESS RUNNING THROUGH A SEQUENCE OF DEVELOPMENTAL STAGES, (2) DETERMINE WHETHER THERE ARE SIGNIFICANT SEX DIFFERENCES IN CAREER SEQUENCES, (3) DESCRIBE IN DETAIL 111 REAL CAREER PATTERNS OVER 8 YEARS OF DEVELOPMENT, AND SEEK UNIFYING MATHEMATICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL MODELS FOR THEM, (4) DETERMINE THE EXTENT TO WHICH CAREER DECISIONS ARE BASED UPON SELF-CONCEPT AND OTHER FACTORS, (5) ACCOMPLISH A SUCCESSFUL MULTIDIMENSIONAL SCALING OF EARLY VOCATIONAL MATURITY FROM INTERVIEW PROTOCOLS AND NAMING THE RESULTING SCALES READINESS FOR VOCATIONAL PLANNING (RVP), AND (6) EXPLORE THE STATISTICAL DEPENDENCE OF NUMEROUS CRITERIA OF CAREER DEVELOPMENT ON THE RVP SCALES, WITH THE CRITERIA BEING COLLECTED IN 3-, 5-, AND 7-YEAR FOLLOWUP INTERVIEWS. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY WERE MET. THE AUTHORS BELIEVED THAT THIS STUDY OF 111 CAREERS IN PROGRESS, OF BOTH SEXES, OVER 8 YEARS SHOULD BE AN ASSET TO GUIDANCE COUNSELORS AND CAREER PSYCHOLOGISTS. (JC)