MBA Project

This is the updated survey. Looking for feedback before I put it out there for responses.
___________________________________________________
This survey is intended to assess a hypothesis forwarded during my MBA course.

Please answer the following questions. They are to be collected and analyzed for a Graduate Studies Statistics course. No personally identifying questions are included and privacy will be strictly enforced. If you are interested in the final results of the group I will be happy to share my final paper on the subject with you.
1. What is your age?
a) less than 25 b) 25 to 34 c) 35 to 44 d) 45 to 55 e) greater than 55
2. Gender
a) male b) female
3. How long have you been actively trading?
a) less than 1 year b) 1 to 3 years c) approximately 3 to 5 years d) approximately 5 to 10 years e) greater than 10 years
4. How many hours per day do you spend either trading or preparing for trades?
a) less than 1 hour b) approximately 1 to 2 hours c) approximately 2 to 4 hours d) approximately 4 to 8 hours e) greater than 8 hours
5. Which type of security do you primarily trade?
a) Stocks b) Options c) Commodities d) Mutual Funds e) ETFs
6. Is trading your primary source of income?
a) yes b) no
7. What was your starting trading capital in 2005?
a) less than $5,000 b) $6,000-$10,000 c) $11,000-$25,000 d) $26,000-$100,000 e) greater than $100,000
8. What was your percent return on trading capital in 2005?
a) negative b) 0 - 10% c) 11 - 25% d) 26 - 100% e) greater than 100%
9. I prefer to trade alone.
a) Strongly Agree b) Agree c) Neutral d) Disagree e) Strongly Disagree
10. I prefer a mentor.
a) Strongly Agree b) Agree c) Neutral d) Disagree e) Strongly Disagree
11. Which category most likely explains your trading results?
a) Starting capital b) Length of experience c) presence or lack of mentor d) time allotted to trading or preparing to trade e) type of security chosen as primary trading vehicle
Thank you again for participating and good luck in your future trading endeavors.
 
Great, 15 minutes and already there are 8 respondents. Thank you so much! Woohoo!!
I was worried about getting any responses.
Albert
 
I have 10 completed responses. Still need 15 more, maybe the females can chip in here. 100% male so far. Surprising number of traders that rely on trading as their income!
Albert
 
As a junior statiscian myself I have to say the obvious: The way this study is conducted will result in a huge amount of sampling error and sample biasness.

All the best to you nonetheless.
 
Thanks, you are right.
I am more interested in the process right now. I have time to fix a lot of these problems. Just getting competent at the SPSS program is enough work by itself. And for what it is worth, this is not meant to be a publishable piece, more like an exercise in statistics and getting the research paper process down.
Albert
 
<<My research paper's stated hypothesis is that there is a positive and direct correlation between a trader's success(?) and the length of time involved in the trading business.>>

Aren't you making a hypothesis that is self-evident. Only traders who can last really are those who are successful. Some traders can keep raising funds and losing it and survive, but they are a rare few. Other traders may do well immediately but when are they a success? Also, one year is not really successful so a trader would HAVE to trade for many years in order to be successful (i.e. track record).

Since you are in an MBA class and taking statistics, you need to make a leap to more sophisticated research. Any statistics professor will rip apart your results and you should not be set up for that. MBA level statistical research would involve regressing interest rates with numerous factors to find signifigance or sampling educational backgrounds/financial status of beginning option traders v. beginning stock traders to find any trend, or anything where the conclusion is something you cannot determine and THUS the point of the research.

Your hypothesis is no different than saying the number of hits a baseball player has in his career has a positive correlation with how long he stays in the league- the more time he is in the league the more hits he will tend to have. There may be the rare defensive wizard SS with few hits but your overall correlation will be self-evident. In other words, the answer is quite obvious from the question posed in the study.

This reminds me of the news article on a study conducted where it found that more people die in plane crashes when the plane is more crowded (I swear, google it somewhere lol).

So before doing a lot of work to get to a conclusion which is already established, you might want to undertake another statistical study. You need to pose a question or study idea where the question posed can only be answered through some good statistical research and the hypothesis is not a foregone conclusion but an initial analysis which may be proven or disproven through research.

Trading is a Darwinian pursuit where in order to last you need to be successful since not being good means losses. Losing traders do not last long at the trading desk of any major investment bank or hedge fund and individual traders here would be out of money if they were unsuccessful for many years.

I am just trying to get you to think at the MBA level and push your research. In my opinion your statistical hypothesis truly involves no need for statistical sampling.
 
Albert you aren't taking into account that most successful prop traders don't measure % Return. Many put up 20k and pull at least that much out every month. This would be thousands of percent return... you're mixing active investor with trader, I think. They are different, IMHO.

Quote from Albert:

This is the updated survey. Looking for feedback before I put it out there for responses.
___________________________________________________
This survey is intended to assess a hypothesis forwarded during my MBA course.

Please answer the following questions. They are to be collected and analyzed for a Graduate Studies Statistics course. No personally identifying questions are included and privacy will be strictly enforced. If you are interested in the final results of the group I will be happy to share my final paper on the subject with you.
1. What is your age?
a) less than 25 b) 25 to 34 c) 35 to 44 d) 45 to 55 e) greater than 55
2. Gender
a) male b) female
3. How long have you been actively trading?
a) less than 1 year b) 1 to 3 years c) approximately 3 to 5 years d) approximately 5 to 10 years e) greater than 10 years
4. How many hours per day do you spend either trading or preparing for trades?
a) less than 1 hour b) approximately 1 to 2 hours c) approximately 2 to 4 hours d) approximately 4 to 8 hours e) greater than 8 hours
5. Which type of security do you primarily trade?
a) Stocks b) Options c) Commodities d) Mutual Funds e) ETFs
6. Is trading your primary source of income?
a) yes b) no
7. What was your starting trading capital in 2005?
a) less than $5,000 b) $6,000-$10,000 c) $11,000-$25,000 d) $26,000-$100,000 e) greater than $100,000
8. What was your percent return on trading capital in 2005?
a) negative b) 0 - 10% c) 11 - 25% d) 26 - 100% e) greater than 100%
9. I prefer to trade alone.
a) Strongly Agree b) Agree c) Neutral d) Disagree e) Strongly Disagree
10. I prefer a mentor.
a) Strongly Agree b) Agree c) Neutral d) Disagree e) Strongly Disagree
11. Which category most likely explains your trading results?
a) Starting capital b) Length of experience c) presence or lack of mentor d) time allotted to trading or preparing to trade e) type of security chosen as primary trading vehicle
Thank you again for participating and good luck in your future trading endeavors.
More...
 
To optioncoach and fadertrader:
Where were you guys when I needed you? The die is cast, the deed is done.

optioncoach:
I think you overestimate the MBA limbo level. I don't have to bend that hard. Secondly, the format is that the classes are in a six week format. This is an introduction to Statistics class for us beginning MBAs. All the points you make are valid. The problem has to do with the time frame. How do you do all that in six weeks without getting a running start at it, i.e. already having the project in mind even before the assignment is given. At the end of the 18 months I have a Graduate level Portfolio that I have to present which does raise the bar (to completely mix the metaphor) and will address those concerns. This is the first shot across the bow.

Fadertrader:
Overactive trader, hyperkinetic key monkey, super trader... it is all the same to me in this first attempt to extract meaning from such a diverse group. As time marches forth, I will try to be more precise, rigorous and scientific. Excuse my feeble first attempt.
To be honest with you, if there are guys out there pulling in that kinda dough, then I want to know about it. But ya' gotta' start somewhere.
 
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