The identification of business starters using attitude measurements
Date
1994
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Abstract
The use of attitude measurements to identify Canadian business starters is investigated. Three different attitude measurement instruments were utilized: the Entrepreneurial Attitude Orientation scale (EAO), the Personal Involvement Inventory (PII), and the Action-Desirability Inventory (ADI). The instruments were distributed through the mail to clients of a new venture assistance program, owners and employees of a local business incubator, recent graduates of an
owner/manager transitions program, and MBA alumni. Of the 266 surveys returned 160 met the criteria for being included in this study. Discriminant analyses were done using 1) the EAO subscales alone, 2) the PII scores alone, 3) the ADI scores alone, and 4) all three together. The task of the analyses was to maximally discriminate between four groups: Starter Managers, Starter Non-managers, Nonstarter Managers, and Non-starter Non-managers. Pillais' F (s=3, m=2, n=59.5) for the four hypothesis were, respectively, 2.65 (p<.002), 8.88 (p<.001), 7.69 (p<.001),
and 3.04 (p<.001), which indicates that all the discriminant functions were statistically significant. The classification functions for the four hypotheses were also tested. It was found that the overall hit rates (number of correct group assignments over the actual number of individuals in the group times 100) for the four analysis were, respectively, 35.2%, 49.0 %, 45.9%, and 56.8%, which is better than chance alone would predict (25%). It is concluded that attitude measurements are a valid means of identifying business starters. Implications for future research are discussed.
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Bibliography: p. 57-64.
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Citation
Christensen, M. A. (1994). The identification of business starters using attitude measurements (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/13678