Managerial style and the use of statistical data in technical services units in selected academic libraries

The primary purpose of this study was to test the following hypothesis: The internal use (use within the technical services unit for decision making and planning) of statistical data will be significantly higher for managers scoring in the Sensing-Thinking (ST) scale of the self-assessment instrument Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. A Technical Services Statistics Survey Form was developed in order to collect statistical data from the technical services managers participating in the study. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator was utilized to record managers' personal management style. Thirty-two managers participated in the two-part study.;The hypothesis of the study was not supported because no significant differences in the predicted direction were found to exist between the use of the technical services statistics and management style groups as measured by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. (A Mann-Whitney U Test was used due to the small, uneven sample size.) There were significant differences between Sensing-Thinking (ST) and Intuitive-Feeling (NF) types, but not in the direction predicted by the hypothesis. Possible explanations for this unexpected finding include the very small sample size, the larger percentage of male respondents in the NF type, and the larger percentage of respondents from smaller institutions in the NF type. (Gender and institutional size were not analyzed in this study.);A sharp contrast existed in the number and quality of comments provided by Sensing-Thinking (ST) and Intuitive-Thinking (NT) types, both of whom tended to write lengthy detailed comments elaborating on each statistic. Sensing-Feeling (SF) and Intuitive-Feeling (NF) types provided little or no comment on the Technical Services Statistics Form.;The results of this research have implications for examining the technical services statistics collected in technical services units: the frequency of analysis; their importance for planning; the use of these statistics; and the level at which the statistic is used for decision making. Other implications pertain to the automation of statistical data and the use or non-use of the automated reports available.