Differential Diagnostic Questionnaire Test
How the Scales are Structured
Who Usually Takes This Test?
See How You Compare
Below is a preview of how scores are typically distributed across each scale.
Example Questions From the Test
- Care for animals.
- Maintain machines or equipment (monitor, adjust).
- Helping people who are ill and treating them
- Creating tables, diagrams, or computer programs
- Processing materials (wood, fabric, plastic, metal, etc.)
- Bringing products to consumers (advertising, selling).
Differential Diagnostic Questionnaire Test - Description and methodology of the test
People considering study, retraining, or a change of direction can use this profile to compare the kinds of activity that attract them. The Differential Diagnostic Questionnaire Test turns paired preferences into a picture of vocational orientation, covering practical objects, living systems, people, symbolic information, and creative expression. As a vocational interest test, it offers a focused starting point for career reflection.
What This Assessment Explores
Results compare preferences for materials, information, people, living systems, and creative work. They indicate interests, not qualifications or guaranteed fit. A career preference questionnaire structures reflection about study and work.
The scales are:
- Person-Nature (0–7) measures preference for nature-centred work and calm, stable activity; Low 0–2, Moderate 3–5, High 6–7.
- Person-Technology (0–8) measures interest in precise technical work; Low 0–2, Moderate 3–5, High 6–8.
- Person-to-Person (0–9) measures preference for interpersonal work and understanding others; Low 0–3, Moderate 4–6, High 7–9.
- Person–Sign System (0–8) measures preference for symbolic information and sustained attention; Low 0–2, Moderate 3–5, High 6–8.
- Person–Artistic Image (0–8) measures attraction to creative work; Low inclination 0–2, Moderate inclination 3–5, High inclination 6–8.
Methodology and Scientific Basis
Items pair work-related activities, situations, or preferences, such as caring for animals versus maintaining equipment or describing events artistically versus preparing precise reports. Choosing between them creates a forced-choice self-report: it records preference, not skill, experience, or confidence. The result reports a score and band for each orientation; displayed ranges do not establish an additional point rule.
The structure reflects Klimov’s five-part typology. Differential Diagnostic Questionnaire (Klimov, 1990) provides the conceptual basis for distinguishing work with nature, technology, people, sign systems, and artistic images. Klimov’s 1995 account organizes professions by characteristic objects and activity domains. The questionnaire’s categories are conceptually consistent with these works, not an adaptation of them. The 2021 study is related research examining occupational dispositions through Klimov’s categories; it does not establish the reliability, validity, or norms of this questionnaire. This online questionnaire has no stated norming sample.
As a career exploration assessment, the result describes relative preferences. It can guide exploration of study plans, job environments, and practical experience. Current context and self-perception can affect self-report, so the profile should guide exploration rather than prescribe a career.
- Strutinsky, Sergey Vadimovich, Roman Konstantinovich Kovalenko, and Nataliya Aleksandrovna Zvonareva. (2021). A Study of the Correlation Between Socionic Personality Types of Optants and Their Disposition to Certain Types of Occupation Sensu E. A. Klimov. Russian Journal of Education and Psychology, 12(6), 136–157. 10.12731/2658-4034-2021-12-6-136-157.
- Klimov, E. A. (1990). How to Choose a Profession: A Book for Senior Grade Comprehensive School Pupils (2nd ed., enlarged and revised). Moscow: Prosveshchenie. 159 pp. ISBN 5-09-002654-8.
- Klimov, E. A. (1995). The Image of the World in Different Professions: A Textbook. Moscow: Moscow University Press. 222 pp. ISBN 5-211-03334-5.
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