Date of Award

1-1-1986

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Business and Vocational Education

Abstract

Problem. The study focused on a major problem in entrepreneurial research--how to describe actual entrepreneurs. It was designed to develop descriptive profiles of entrepreneurs and small business persons and to statistically test selected hypotheses about this population.Procedures. A total of 227 randomly selected managers or owner/managers were included in the study, drawn from Chambers of Commerce membership lists in North Dakota and Minnesota cities. Subjects came from firms that had 5 to 50 full-time employees. Four instruments were administered to the subjects: the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, the Survey of Interpersonal Values, the Survey of Personal Values, and a Demographic Survey Questionnaire.Conclusions. (1) The Extraversion-Introversion classification of respondents, as identified by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (Indicator), was not an effective way to characterize study participants. In a multiple regression model with Extraversion-Introversion as the dependent variable and the twelve Survey of Interpersonal Values and Survey of Personal Values variables as the independent set, these predictors accounted for only 8.5 percent of the variation in the Extraversion-Introversion variable. (2) The Sensing-Intuition classification, as identified by the Indicator, was a useful participant descriptor. When used in a multiple regression model, the twelve predictors accounted for 32.9 percent of the variation in the Sensing-Intuition variable. (3) The Thinking-Feeling classification, as identified by the Indicator, was a moderately useful participant descriptor. When used in a multiple regression model, the twelve variables accounted for 20.1 percent of the variation in the Thinking-Feeling variable. (4) The Judging-Perception classification, as identified by the Indicator, was a very useful participant descriptor. When used in a multiple regression model, the twelve variables accounted for 36.8 percent of the variation in the Judging-Perception variable. (5) In a canonical model with the Extraversion-Introversion, Sensing-Intuition, Thinking-Feeling, and Judging-Perception variables as the criterion set and the twelve variables as the predictor set, 62.4 percent of the variation in the criterion set was accounted for by the predictor set.

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