Entry-level Doctor of Occupational Therapy Capstone Focus Areas: A Pilot Study Exploring Personality Types and Practice Areas of OT Practitioners
Event Type
Presentation
Start Date
12-1-2020 9:00 AM
End Date
12-1-2020 12:00 PM
Description
Background & Purpose: The doctoral capstone experience (DCE) is the culminating element of the entry-level Doctor of Occupational Therapy (OTD) education. Although the DCE is an independent process, students have limited guidance to which of the eight focus areas they may be best suited. Data was collected from occupational therapy (OT) practitioners regarding personality traits, work experience, and preference in each focus area. The study aimed to examine correlations among these factors to guide future studies’ exploration of DCE focus areas.
Methods: A quantitative study was conducted via electronicallydistributed personality testing provided by the Big Five Inventory (BFI) through the Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap) system. Sixty-nine of 205 participants' personality scores were used following the exclusion criteria. The Spearman rank correlation coefficient was used to analyze differences among the frequencies of each personality type across focus areas. Factor analysis was also used to explore interpretations of statistical concepts.
Results: Spearman's rho correlations revealed experience in leadership and administration was associated with openness, agreeableness, conscientiousness (p < 0.01), and inversely correlated with neuroticism (p < 0.05). Openness also correlated with experience in clinical practice and program development (p < 0.01), research and theory development (p < 0.01), and education (p < 0.05). Openness and conscientiousness correlated with preference in research and theory development, however, extraversion was inversely correlated with preference in education. Correlations were also found between practitioners' work experience and preference in various focus areas.
Conclusion: Results suggest that personality trait trends across DCE focus areas may be used in the development of a tool using BFI scores to guide OTD students’ selection of preferred DCE focus areas.
Recommended Citation
Decker, T., Aybar, S., Dela Cruz, R. K., Mohammed, J. A., Mustafa, N. I., & Smith, A. (2020), Entry-level Doctor of Occupational Therapy Capstone Focus Areas: A Pilot Study Exploring Personality Types and Practice Areas of OT Practitioners, Presentation, Seventh Annual Research Colloquium, https://nsuworks.nova.edu/ot_colloquium/seventh/events/4
Entry-level Doctor of Occupational Therapy Capstone Focus Areas: A Pilot Study Exploring Personality Types and Practice Areas of OT Practitioners
Background & Purpose: The doctoral capstone experience (DCE) is the culminating element of the entry-level Doctor of Occupational Therapy (OTD) education. Although the DCE is an independent process, students have limited guidance to which of the eight focus areas they may be best suited. Data was collected from occupational therapy (OT) practitioners regarding personality traits, work experience, and preference in each focus area. The study aimed to examine correlations among these factors to guide future studies’ exploration of DCE focus areas.
Methods: A quantitative study was conducted via electronicallydistributed personality testing provided by the Big Five Inventory (BFI) through the Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap) system. Sixty-nine of 205 participants' personality scores were used following the exclusion criteria. The Spearman rank correlation coefficient was used to analyze differences among the frequencies of each personality type across focus areas. Factor analysis was also used to explore interpretations of statistical concepts.
Results: Spearman's rho correlations revealed experience in leadership and administration was associated with openness, agreeableness, conscientiousness (p < 0.01), and inversely correlated with neuroticism (p < 0.05). Openness also correlated with experience in clinical practice and program development (p < 0.01), research and theory development (p < 0.01), and education (p < 0.05). Openness and conscientiousness correlated with preference in research and theory development, however, extraversion was inversely correlated with preference in education. Correlations were also found between practitioners' work experience and preference in various focus areas.
Conclusion: Results suggest that personality trait trends across DCE focus areas may be used in the development of a tool using BFI scores to guide OTD students’ selection of preferred DCE focus areas.