A Lesson in Statistics

I was clued in by Gerald on two surveys that have been done at KUIS. The first is a test that had been doen about students international attitudes. i.e. "What do you think about this country? ""What do you think about that region?" "What do you think about this continent?"

It was a lesson in statistics (wow, that matches the title of this posting.)

This one was sad for me...disappointing. The question "When you think about Asia, what comes to mind (in Japan, Asia is often thought of as everything in Asia except Japan)" was answered by MOST students, with something VERY close to "Dirty...but we can go shopping."
...
Well...that's...not very well thought out...or...international. Granted, they were 1st year students...but STILL...that's it? That's what you think of Asia? And...as Gerald unneccesarily pointed out...that's a TERRIBLY provincial view! What in the world! I'd hate to see kids at a NON-internationally oriented university, because I'd be terrified to see the results! Racism is one thing, but obliviousness to your neighboring cultures and nations is another It's not like these people don't take history classes before college...

The second test is more interesting and satisfying in general. It was a Myers-Briggs test. Perhaps not the most up-to-date or useful system, but certainly useful if the group you administer it to meshes with the questions to ask to produce accurate results. Interestingly enough, as Myers OR Briggs would be happy with: there were no remarkable trends among the students as to the frequency of any one type of personality in the school. Extroverts and Introverts, Sensors and the Intuivite, Feelers and Thinkers, Judges and Percievers. I E/I, S/I, F/T, and J/P, as respective initials commonly used to represent these, respectively. Those on opposite sides of the "/" are considered to be more or less opposites, or at least a spectrum on which a person can fall anywhere from one extreme to the other, although most people fall clearly to one side or the other for at least 3 of the 4 parts, interestingly enough. The Japanese, dispite their obvious difference from us westerners, share about the same percentage of each group as the US of A! Woooo doggy. That's interesting to see. My confidence in the "innateness" of what is being tested here is slightly higher than it was before seeing this study in action.

For those of you interested, you might be surprised to know that I usually test out as an ENFP (Extroverted Intuitive Feeling Perciever) in contrast to an ISTJ (Introverted Sensing Thinking Judge).

Before I took this test for the first time, I thought I would be an INTP (Introverted Intuitive Thinking Perciever), but apparently the fact that I am driven more than average by the expectations of my family and very close friends lends itself highly to my balance between introversion and extroversion, although I would still say that I spend most of my free time alone or doing things with others that aren't particularly social. But that is the argument of whether Introversion and Extroversion are more of a product of actions (are you unsocial to very social?) or motivation (are you motivated better by inner sources or from outside sources?) for which would take too long to describe here without drawing this out longer than it already is.

I knew that I was more of an Intuit, Intuitionalist, Intuitor or whatever term you prefer. No, I'm not an Eskimo, and Institutionalist or a Interior designer; read it again. *wink* I've always prefered and excelled at construing fairly accurate results from limited data by simply using intuition rather than feeling like I need to carefully measure everything. I don't want to just watch something over and over, I want to think about what it WILL be, what it CAN be, and how one system is integrated with larger and smaller systems across the board. I thought this was because I was a...Thinker. I was wrong.

Why was I wrong? I'm always thinking after all. I'm not the "zoned-out in la-la land" type. That's why I can hardly sleep. Too busy thinking. Unconscious means not conscious...including not conscious of thoughts. I am overly conscious of my own thoughts at times. This prevents sleep. Well, what I saw after the test was that it was connected with my OTHER two parts. And together it makes a system which may be a large part of the strengths and weaknesses that are the Adam Frank you know today.

I spend alot of time thinking of how something could happen. Not on actual, but potential. I make alot of ideas, but fewer plans. I'm busy being Intuitive. so where does my data come from? I'm not much of a sensor, really. My first reaction to when I encounter something that takes me out of my stupor of thoughts is my Perceptions. When I realized that I was a Feeler, something I am apparently skilled at, it came together for me. I percieve, I take a Feeling about the matter, I remove myself from interacting for some period of time for (or actively involve myself in) the intuitive process regarding what this means across the board, how this will affect everything else around me, etc. I'm fairly right-brained, so it usually goes global first--meaning I think about how something affects the big picture. Then I like to keep to myself about it or talk to somebody about what I am detecting and get their feedback on both their ideas and my own thought.

The result: I come up with alot of theories. However, I am slow to come to a judgement call, for better or worse. I spent most of my childhood disregarding my feelings in favour of a cleaner, scientific objectivity (for which I still have faith in, but I realize now that I can determine many things accurately enough for their purposes much quicker by simply going with feeling and intuition for a great many things in life, or that they can at least point me in a direction to START a scientific inquiry). I am hard to drive into a place where I will say "This is my stance, it will never change for anything. My type, no surprise, likes Science-Fiction/Fantasy reading, because it fuels us with unusual Perceptions, which store a great deal of Feelings, and can lead to great lengths of Intuitive thought about the characters, the nature of physics in theoretical realms, and leaving us with something to think about in between books or between reading sessions...perhaps pointless, but fun. Technically not "Thinking" but more of an intuitive exercise. My father hates Science-Fiction/Fantasy.
E
Interestingly enough (for me) I am fairly certain that of my immediate family, we are all somewhere between Extroverted to quite Extroverted (yes, that means you, Nicole).
N
Whereas mom and I are quite Intuitive, Dad couldn't be any more of a Sensor if you wanted him to be. His tastes reflect this. Give the man his Book TV and History Channel! We'll stick to our Sci-fi over here. I believe Nicole tends to fall on our side too, although perhaps not as far from the middle as either (sorry to leave you hanging dad, but it's in our nature). It might be interesting to you to see that the more blind any one of us is, the more of Intuits rather than Sensors we are, althought that is in fact coincidence, and has no statistical correlation for those that are not functionally disabled)
F
I would also guess (since this is all speculation, a sure sign of an Intuit, haha), that Nicole, mom and I also share categorization as Feelers rather than Thinkers. Short tempered? Whatever do you mean? However, I'd say we all have pretty reliable gut reactions. Dad is a thinker, and he is quite a good one at that. Football, Chess, and most of all his teaching are VERY clear markers of his sucess as a thinker.
P
I know I am a perciever. However, interestingly enough, part of being a perciever is that it seems to be difficult to judge how much of a Judge another person is! Mom can lay down the law pretty good, but she's a mom, so that's a skill that goes with the trade. Nicole...well, her first reactions can seem a tiny bit judgmental, but I think she too is more of a perciever, and a result of her intuition being faster than her thought. Dad is quite fair and just, and often seems to have such topics on the mind, so I believe he may be more of a Judge. Don't get too bashful from my comments, dad, you also more stubborn than the rest of us! Changing judgements from one to another can be more difficult for Judges. However, the world needs good judges! So please don't think ill of the J-men.

An analysis of my writing would tell you that what was written above was probably by an INFP, and upon reflection was very typical of not only my self but also of my 4-facet Myer-Briggs type. I am very close to I or E though, as you could probably guess from my history, but my experience is bound to affect my writing style, so I probably tend to look more I-ish as it were.

So, again, to recap these are my guesses (and only guesses, mind you):
Dad: ESTJ (boarderline E)
Mom: ENFP(boarderline P)
Nicole:ENFP(slightly S for an N)
Me: INFP (I contest that I am slightly more Introverted than Extroverted, although tests say that I am slightly Extroverted)

I'd really like to know what results my folks have gotten previously or what they test out if they were to take a Myer Briggs Test sometime. I'd be pleased as peaches if you'd post your 4-facet type in the comments section after reading this blog though! Anyone else, friends or family, I'd be happy to hear what your types are, as well as your opinions on how accurately each of the 4 facets were measured in your OWN case. Humour me? Just this once? Pretty please?