During the last few years the research enterprise dealing with the status projections of youth, and in particular, the numerous empirical studies focusing on occupational aspirations and expectations, has increasingly come under criticism within the sociological community. The paper acknowledges the criticism directed toward projection research as generally valid and attributes the difficulties to the lack of agreement on an adequate sociological model. The main thrust of the paper is to construct a cumulative model of the selection process that is both a reaction to, and product of, some of the more obvious weaknesses in projection research. This cumulative model incorporates a restructured concept of "occupational choice" in the form of a six component typology of occupational orientation identified as: specific (+) versus diffused (-), desirable (+) versus undesirable (-), anticipated (+) versus unanticipated (-), realistic (+) versus unrealistic (-), high motivation (+) versus low motivation (-), and adequacy (+) versus inadequacy (-). Developmental patterns along with differing configurations of orientations are viewed as key variables for analysis. The paper concludes with questions for future research and a bibliography. (Author/MW)