## Introduction

I found a Kaggle database of a 4967 participant survey of the Fischer Temperament Inventory which consists of 56 questions. While it’s not clear how valid the inventory is, the data collected from such a large number of participants allowed for some light data analysis.

Participants rated themselves (1=strongly disagree… 4=strongly agree) on questions like - I am more creative than most people. - Debating is a good way to match my wits with others.

I examine which questions are correlated by similar ratings. e.g. People who said they agreed with statement X also agreed with statement Y.

While this is not spectacular, it is interesting that this data set does appear to contain “consistent” answers. People did not contradict themselves on the whole… And furthermore, it reminds us that with a good sized data set like this, i.e. with a large set of ‘users’, the answers they give can be aggregated to reveal patterns based on a “correspondence analysis” (I may be deviating from its strict definition).

I used a combination of “contingency tables” and the statistical correlation of the ratings.

The Kaggle database is here.

## Example of a Correlated Pair of Questions

##           Q37       Q30
## Q37 1.0000000 0.6332119
## Q30 0.6332119 1.0000000

##        argumentative
## debater FALSE TRUE
##   FALSE  1375  468
##   TRUE    651 2473
## [1] 1.6 3.1

## Fischer Temperament Inventory

Table of questions and short codes.
qnum short text
Q1 unpredictable I find unpredictable situations exhilarating.
Q2 impulsive I do things on the spur of the moment.
Q3 bored I get bored when I have to do the same familiar things.
Q4 interests I have a very wide range of interests.
Q5 optimistic I am more optimistic than most people.
Q6 creative I am more creative than most people.
Q7 experiences I am always looking for new experiences.
Q8 newthings I am always doing new things.
Q9 enthusiastic I am more enthusiastic than most people.
Q10 risktaking I am willing to take risks to do what I want to do.
Q11 restless I get restless if I have to stay home for any length of time.
Q12 curious My friends would say I am very curious.
Q13 energetic I have more energy than most people.
Q14 funloving On my time off I like to be free to do whatever looks fun.
Q15 consistent I think consistent routines keep life orderly and relaxing.
Q16 deliberate I consider (and reconsider) every option thoroughly before making a plan.
Q17 proper People should behave according to established standards of proper conduct.
Q18 planner I enjoy planning way ahead.
Q19 rulefollower In general I think it is important to follow rules.
Q20 possessions Taking care of my possessions is a high priority for me.
Q21 traditional My friends and family would say I have traditional values.
Q22 meticulous I tend to be meticulous in my duties.
Q23 cautious I tend to be cautious but not fearful.
Q24 moral People should behave in ways that are morally correct.
Q25 authority It is important to respect authority.
Q26 loyalty I would rather have loyal friends than interesting friends
Q27 respectful Long established customs need to be respected and preserved.
Q28 straightforward I like to work in a straightforward path toward completing the task.
Q29 mechanical I understand complex machines easily.
Q30 argumentative I enjoy competitive conversations.
Q31 patterns I am intrigued by rules and patterns that govern systems.
Q32 analytical I am more analytical and logical than most people.
Q33 intellectual I pursue intellectual topics thoroughly and regularly.
Q34 objective I am able to solve problems without letting emotion get in the way
Q35 howworks I like to figure out how things work.
Q36 tough I am tough-minded.
Q37 debater Debating is a good way to match my wits with others.
Q38 decider I have no trouble making a choice even when several alternatives seem equally good at first.
Q39 technical When I buy a new machine (e.g. camera computer or car) I want to know all of its technical features.
Q40 sayexactly I like to avoid the nuances and say exactly what I mean.
Q41 direct I think it is important to be direct.
Q42 factual When making a decision I like to stick to the facts rather than be swayed by peoples feelings.
Q43 knowfriends I like to get to know my friends deepest needs and feelings.
Q44 intimacy I highly value deep emotional intimacy in my relationships.
Q45 intuitive Regardless of what is logical I generally listen to my heart when making important decisions.
Q46 daydreamer I frequently catch myself daydreaming.
Q47 changeable I can change my mind easily.
Q48 feelingsstay After watching an emotional film I often still feel moved by it several hours later.
Q49 vividhappenings I vividly imagine both wonderful and horrible things happening to me.
Q50 sensitivetoothers I am very sensitive to people’s feelings and needs.
Q51 lostinthoughts I often find myself getting lost in my thoughts during the day.
Q52 feeldeeply I feel emotions more deeply than most people.
Q53 vividimagination I have a vivid imagination.
Q54 dreamtoreal When I wake up from a vivid dream it takes me a few seconds to return to reality.
Q55 readmeaningful When reading I enjoy when the writer takes a sidetrack to say something beautiful or meaningful.
Q56 empathetic I am very empathetic.

## List of Most Highly Correlated Question Pairs

These were the personality question pairs that had the highest correlations.

Q1 Q2
analytical objective
analytical factual
argumentative debater
authority respectful
creative vividimagination
daydreamer lostinthoughts
daydreamer vividimagination
enthusiastic energetic
experiences newthings
experiences risktaking
feeldeeply empathetic
feelingsstay sensitivetoothers
feelingsstay feeldeeply
feelingsstay empathetic
howworks technical
intimacy sensitivetoothers
intimacy feeldeeply
intimacy empathetic
knowfriends intimacy
knowfriends sensitivetoothers
knowfriends empathetic
mechanical howworks
mechanical technical
objective factual
optimistic enthusiastic
optimistic energetic
proper rulefollower