CTEC600 TRANSDISCIPLINARY INQUIRY: RESEARCH PROPOSAL

PLEASE NOTE This form must be typed. Handwritten forms will not be accepted.

Student ID No: Name :

Does this project require ethics approval? Yes No

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Referencing: when citing references please conform to APA 6th style.
Intellectual Property: If you have reason to believe that Intellectual Property implications will arise out of independent
research, you should discuss this with your tutor.
Ethics Approval: Please seek advice from your tutor if you have any queries on ethics requirements.

RESEARCH PROPOSAL

Title

Personality types in various fields of study.

Abstract/Summary

The purpose of this study is to determine whether students studying in a particular field belong to
the same personality category, based on the Myers-Briggs personality test, specifically the test on
16personalities.com. The study will aim to determine whether your personality type can
predispose you to a certain study path. The study involves students from various areas of study,
for example, medicine students, business students, design students, communications students
and creative technologies students taking the same personality test. The results will then be
analysed to determine whether similar personalities study in each chosen field.

Rationale and Significance of the Study

During a study in the UK in 2013, 45/60 schools were failing to provide adequate careers and
tertiary study advice to students. The results are a lot of students are enrolling in degrees, which
are completely wrong for them, often resulting in failure. People who choose occupations
consistent with their personality types are more likely to be satisfied with their vocational choices
(Feldman, D.C & Arnold, H.J., 1985). With accurate and more efficient information, regarding
personality type in relation to career success, students can effectively choose a path of study that
matches their personality.

As student population growth increases and more people seek a higher education it can be
harder to get to know other students. Through this study students will become more aware of
their personality traits and students in their degree who have similar personality traits. Becoming
aware of different strengths and weaknesses of other students in your degree can be beneficial
during group projects and help members to work more cohesively.

Literature/Past Research Review

In 2016 a group of my friends and I, who study the same degree, took a Myers-Briggs based
personality quiz and were surprised to discover we all belonged to the same category. This led me
to wonder whether our personality type had some sort of correlation with our studying of this
degree.
Instruments considered for research included; The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (Myers, 1962), A
Theory of Vocational Choice (Holland J.L., 1959), Five-Factor Model, and Hermann Whole Brain
Thinking. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, via 16personalities.com was chosen due to its
popularity in the consultancy and training world (Furnham, A., 1996).

The MBTI was also chosen in consideration with the Barnum Effect. The Barnum Effect is the
tendency for people to accept vague and general statements as descriptive of their personality.
(Dickson, D.H. & I.W. Kelly, 1985). The other instruments were disregarded because their
results/descriptions were too vague. The Barnum Effect theorises that vague wording allows
participants to project their own interpretations onto the personality description. Traits that are
seen as socially desirable can also influence the participants interpretation of results; similarly
individuals are more likely to resonate with the positive characteristics in themselves (Forer, B. R.,
1949), survey results will often only include positive characteristics to appeal and receive
acceptance from participants. The MBTI via 16personalities.com flouts the Barnum Effect as it
presents participants with weaknesses as well as strengths, the results are also reasonably
specific and do not contain vague, general descriptions.

Demographic variables such as age, gender, marital status, ethnic background and socio-
economic status will further affect results (Seibert, S.E & Kraimer, M.L., 2001). Early childhood
and adolescent experiences play a large role in career choices, a persons vocational preferences
and career patterns are attempts to implement a self-concept, (Feldman, D.C & Arnold, H.J.,
1985) this can easily be influenced by demographic variables, often social-classes steer children
into certain, known areas of study. Societal value also influences a students choice of study,
highly regarded careers such the medicine and law fields, are often pursued by students who do
not have the suggested personality type. In relation to Hollands Theory of Vocational Choice,
students with the artistic personality type are less likely to pursue their choice of career for the
fear of being looked down on (Onoyase, D & Onoyase, A., 2009).

Although have been many studies regarding personality types and career paths, there is a gap
regarding personality types and tertiary study paths. If students can be placed on the correct path
of study based off their personality type it can greatly increase their chance of following in a
successful, satisfying career path.

Research Question/Design/Plan of the Study

This research will be quasi-experimental and quantitative. Participants are not randomly assigned
and must be studying one of the selected degrees. The goal is to establish whether 1 of 4
personality types is more common in a certain field of study.

The research question for this study can be formally stated as:

RQ: Is there a correlation between a students personality type and which field of study they
pursue at university?

The research relies on students from varying fields of study completing a Myers-Briggs based
personality test from the website 16personalities.com. The participants will also have to
complete a separate survey where they disclose their field of study, what they received on the
personality test and how accurate they believe the results to be. There is no passing or failing the
tests.
The test comprises of 16 personalities, the research will focus on the 4 main personality types,
but will further analyse similarities between the sub-personality types to draw a more accurate,
specific conclusion and analysis of students. Whether they are introverted or extroverted,
intuitive or observant, thinking or feeling, judging or prospecting, assertive or turbulent. The
more specific traits and each participants percentage will be used to accurately draw
comparisons between each student in each field of study

The survey phase will involve 25 test subjects. There will be 5 fields of study and 5 test subjects
from each field of study, e.g. 5 Medicine students, 5 Business students etc. 5 students have been
chosen as there are 4 personality types, 5 students per field, ensures there can not be a result of
a student representing each of the personality types.

Ethics

Ethical approval will be required and will be submitted prior to the evaluation phase of the
research. This is a low-risk study that does not place participants to any degree of physical or
mental harm. The research will be implemented taking in to consideration the ethical principles of
protection, privacy and participation. Involvement in the study will be optional and all participants
will be provided with a participant information sheet that outlines their involvement and the risks
associated with the study in advance. Privacy is an issue as participants will need to be comfortable
with some information about their field of study and personality traits being public, however
names, age, gender and other personal information will not be made public.

Resources and Budget

A laptop/computer for participants to complete the surveys and a laptop/computer, which can be
used to record participant data. Both are readily available.

Location

At AUT when possible, preferably in level 11-reception area. As the study involves students from
various fields of study and the students have varying timetables the study may not always take
place in the same location.

Timetable for Completion

The project duration is 8 weeks, due on Friday 9th June 2017. Below is a weekly breakdown of the
proposed timetable:

Week 1 : Readings and finding participants

Risks, Limitations and Outcomes

Participants falsifying information is a large risk. Participants are expected to fill the survey out
honestly, but in some cases participants may falsify answers to receive a result they deem
desirable.
The Barnum Effect (Dickson D.H. & I.W. Kelly, 1985) as mentioned above, is a risk as vague
statements, which are common in personality tests, may influence participants interpretation.

Demographic variables may of affected participants reasoning for studying a particular degree.
This will be questioned during a separate survey to be taken by participants after reading their
MBTI results.

The amount of participants has been set reasonably low, as there is a risk of not finding enough
participants. If there are more willing volunteers the amount of participants will be increased.

Influence of location may be an issue, if the chosen location is busy or noisy this could make the
participant nervous and affect the answers as the survey asks quite personal questions.

The project outcome should show how a specific field of study attracts students of 1 of 4 main
particular personality types, broken down into 16 smaller personality types.

References

Feldman, D.C & Arnold, H.J. (1985). Personality Types and Career Patterns: Some Empirical
Evidence on Holland's Model. , 2(1), 192-210.
Personalitypagecom. (2017). Personalitypagecom. Retrieved 20 March 2017, from
https://www.personalitypage.com/careers.html

Seibert, S.E & Kraimer, M.L. (2001). The Five-Factor Model of Personality and Career
Success. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 58(1), 1-21.

Onoyase, D & Onoyase, A. (2009). The Relationship between Personality Types and Career Choice
of Secondary School Students in Federal Government Colleges in Nigeria. Department of
Educational Administration and Policy Studies, 2 Department of Counselling Psychology, Delta State
University, Abraka, Delta State, Nigeria, 11(2), .

Jung, C.G. (1921). Psychological Types

Forer, B. R. (1949) The Fallacy of Personal Validation: A Classroom Demonstration of Gullibility,

Dickson, D.H. & I.W. Kelly, (1985). The Barnum Effect In Personality Assessment: A Review of
Literature, Psychological Reports, 57, 367-382.

Snyder, C.R & Larson, G. (1972). A Further Look at Student Acceptance of General Personality
Interpretations. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 38(1), 384-388.

Cpp. (2017). Cppcom. Retrieved 24th March, 2017, from

Holland J. L. (1959). A Theory of Vocational Choice. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 6(1), 35-45.

Myers, I. B. (1962). The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (pp. 1-5). Palo Alto, CA: Consulting
Psychologists Press.
Furnham, A. (1996). The big five versus the big four: the relationship between the Myers-Briggs
Type Indicator (MBTI) and NEO-PI five-factor model of personality. Personality and Individual
Differences, 21(2), 303-307.