Research Paper on Conscientiousness and Agreeableness Personality Traits on Nursing Leadership

Introduction

The research question for this study will be: "What is the effect of conscientiousness and agreeableness personality traits on nursing leadership?"

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The hypothesis for the study will be: personality traits ("good coping skills," "multitasking" and "being calm") contribute to successful nursing leadership."

Research Design

I will conduct a research study using a quantitative methodology which utilizes a survey design on the effect of personality traits (conscientiousness and agreeableness) on nursing leadership. The study will apply a correlational research design due to its advantages in exploring the relationships between the workable variables. According to Bailey et al. (2010, p.116), the descriptive correlational design is vital when it comes to demonstrating various relationships among the variables. In this study, the variables will be personality traits and nursing leadership where personality traits (conscientiousness and agreeableness) are independent variables whereas nursing leadership is a dependent variable. This approach will be aided by standard statistical operations which will enhance the understanding of the relationships, patterns, and influences of personality traits on attainment of effective nursing leadership.

Quasi-experimental research design and classical experimental design are some of the research methodologies that can be utilized for this study. However, quasi-experimental will be overlooked due to its inability to manipulate independent variables as well as lacking essential properties of randomization and control group (Chukwuba, 2015). Classical experimental research design will also be inappropriate for this study because it is primarily applied to scientific observations. This makes the correlational research design to be the best choice since it goes beyond the description of the existence of a particular phenomenon, by focusing on the systematic investigation of relationships among variables.

Sampling Framework

The targeted population for this study will be staff nurses, nursing managers, and clinical leaders. The setting of the research will be the patient care unit (emergency department) in Ontario, Canada. The convenience sample will be recruited by approaching the targeted participants to inquire on their willingness to take part in the study. Based on the comprehensive clinical inference and understanding of the target sample, the inclusion criteria and patterns of the nursing and managers, a representative sample will be accrued irrespective of the convenience sampling plan. No compensation will be made for the individuals participating in the survey.

Sampling Size, Strategy and Recruitment

The number of the participants was 40, which included the selected nursing staffs and managers at the emergency department. The selection process of the participants will be randomly done, but those selected will be required to be in the nursing field for at least two years. Another requirement for conducting this study will be to protect the participants and not to harm them in any way. An introductory email letter from the researcher will be delivered to an administrator in each of the selected setting (the emergency unit of a healthcare organization in Ontario, Canada). The letter will then be forwarded randomly to the potential participants, and it will describe the research and its significance. The consent form will also be provided to ensure that those taking part in the survey are not coerced to do so but willingly.

Ethics Consideration

The study will be approved by the University's internal review board and the organization's research ethics committee. The participants will be provided with an informed consent form and an acknowledgment form, which will assert that the researcher will protect the rights of the participant during the data collection process. The consent form describes the participant's right to take part in the survey voluntarily and the right to withdraw their participation freely during the process. Participants will not be forced to be involved in the study. The consent will also include the purpose and importance of the study and how the participants are likely to be affected by the research. There will be the explanation on the procedures of the study, which will be availed to the participants, thus giving them an overall overview of the expected outcomes.

Data collection Tools and Procedures

The participants at the emergency unit of the selected healthcare organization will be provided with the questionnaire package to complete it, either while at work or at home. Once the questionnaires have been filled, they will be returned in sealed envelopes at the administrator's office, where they will be picked by the researcher.

Measurement Tool

The study will utilize the NEO PI-R model, which provides an extensive and detailed evaluation of adult personality, primarily based on the Five-Factor Model of personality. According to Johnsson (2009), the FFM is a taxonomy of personality traits characterized by five dimensions of neuroticism, extraversion, and openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. The NEO PI-R domain is symbolized by six scales of Anxiety, anger, hostility, hostility, depression, self-conscientiousness, impulsiveness and vulnerability which determine one's personality traits (Johnsson, 2009). The NEO PI-R tool of evaluation will be suitable for this study since it depicts a cross-cultural consistency. However, it is imperative to note that the NEO PI-R model fails to provide a theoretical explanation in support of personality development but only focusses on the description of the composition of one's personality traits. The validity of the Questionnaire

According to Pollit and Beck's (2010) definition, the validity of a questionnaire is the degree at which a tool measures what is expected to measure. The questionnaire used will adequately cover all aspects of the phenomena being studied. The face validity issues will ensure the questionnaires measure and evaluate the concept being tested (Parahoo, 2010). I will determine the face validity by getting the friends to test-run the tool and establish its relevance, clarity, and unambiguity. On another hand, the content validity will test checks and controls to guarantee that all questions included in the survey are relevant and they cover the entire scope of the study. The test of validity will be based on judgment due to inexistent of the proper methodologies. A panel of experts will be utilized in the evaluation of the content validity of the questionnaires used.

The Reliability of the Questionnaire

Parahoo (2006) considers reliability as the ability of the questionnaire to produce similar outcomes when re-administered under the same setting. The reliability of this study will focus on its stability and consistency in yielding similar results if administered twice. The questionnaire will be given to the participants on two occasions, three weeks apart, before comparing the outcomes. The coefficient of the reliability will then be calculated on the two sets of data for every section of the questionnaire. The limits of the reliability coefficients lie between 0.00 and 1.00. A tool with higher values of the reliability coefficient is considered to be relatively more reliable.

Jones and Rattray (2010) concluded that the best reliability is portrayed by a coefficient which is greater than 0.8. Therefore, the researcher will try to comply with this reliability requirement. The internal consistency check model will be used in the evaluation of the consistency shown in the questions asked. The researcher will apply the split-half test to counter-check the internal consistency. This will involve the splitting of a questionnaire into two equal parts, to allow the identification of the similarity in the data.

Statistical Analyses Plan

The section will be an integrated part of the research design, where inferences and sensibility of the data will be extracted before the data presentation phase. Descriptive analysis will be performed on the collected data, to allow drawing conclusions and making recommendations from the study. This will be quantitative data analysis; hence numerical evaluations will be comprehensively applied. The reply to each question (on all sections) will be coded using numbers on an ordinal scale ranging from 1 to 6. The statistics collected from the coded numbers of the questionnaire will then be input directly to the computer package SPSS (Social Packages for the Social Sciences) with the aid of a statistician. Through SPSS, the collected data will be described in the form of frequency and central tendency.

The inferential statistics will also be used to establish the connections between the variables: nursing leadership and personality traits. The correlation will be checked for the participants "good coping skills," "multitasking" and "being calm." The correlation coefficient will then be calculated through regression analysis model to evaluate the intensity and direction of the correlations.

References

Baileya, J. J., Sabbagh, M., Loiselle, C. G., Boileau, J., & McVey, L. (2010). Supporting families in the ICU: A Descriptive Correlational Study of Informational Support, Anxiety, And Satisfaction With Care. Intensive and Critical Care Nursing, 3(1), 114-122. Retrieved from http://www.ceripa.it/backup/attachments/article/61/Bailey%202010.pdf

Chukwuba, K. (2015). Quantitative Model Studying the Effects of Transformational Leadership on Job Satisfaction. Walden University, 5(2), 5-65. Retrieved from https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/1841/

Clark, R. A., Hartline, M. D., & Jones, C. K. (2009). The Effects of leadership Style on Hotel Employees' Commitment to Service Quality. Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, 50, 209-231. doi:10.1177/1938965508315371

Johnsson, F. (2009). Personality Measures Under Focus: The NEO-PI-R and the MBTI. Griffith University Undergraduate Student Psychology Journal, 3(2), 1-7. Retrieved from https://research-repository.griffith.edu.au/bitstream/handle/10072/340329/129-194-1-PB.pdf?sequence=1

Parahoo K. (2006) Nursing Research: Principles, Process and Issues, (2nd ed.) Palgrave Macmillan, Houndsmill.