A detailed, general and comprehensive accounting scheme is presented, consisting of nine stages of career development, three major sets of elements contributing to career choice (in terms of personal, cultural and situational roles), and 20 hypotheses relating the separate elements. Implicit in the model is a novel procedure and method for systematically analyzing biographies and life histories in a way that will not only help to codify the data but will also shed light on the sociological and social psychological factors underlying such lives. The aim of this approach is to facilitate understanding and research on persons in social context with a view to promoting more serious, more informed decisions about their lives, decisions made not only by administrators of government and personnel managers but by the persons themselves. (Author)