Application of the item Response theory in the Interpretation of Decision Profiles

Abstract

A study whose intent to examine the correlation between two dimensions that comprise decision-making profiles – “Predisposition or aversion to risk” and “Intertemporality” - in a sample comprised of 310 (three hundred and ten) individuals (undergraduate students in Business Administration). Data were collected by means of a questionnaire with 20 (twenty) questions (items) of the type (right/wrong, yes/no). With an essentially quantitative approach, a clearance of the results from the respondents was conducted and Item Response Theory (IRT) was chosen as the main methodological instrument. Results obtained include the identification of questions (items) contained in the questionnaire, which does not display relevance in the profile categorization, allowing one to identify the items that present themselves as the most qualified to categorize them into each one of the dimensions, in this case a Predisposition/aversion to risk and Intertemporality in decisions. Dimensions which do not present, a priori, correlation within the researched universe.