Faculty/School

Faculty of Business and Law

School of Accountancy

Topic status

We're looking for students to study this topic.

Research centre

Supervisors

Dr Elisabeth Sinnewe
Position
Senior Lecturer
Division / Faculty
Faculty of Business & Law

Overview

Suboptimal financial decision-making is associated with low life satisfaction and poor physical and psychological health. This research aims to gain an understanding of how engagement with personal finances and financial literacy are related to young adults’ financial behaviours. This project is funded by the Financial Planning Education Council and can span personal finance, behavioural psychology, and statistical data science.

Research engagement

  • Conduct a literature review on financial literacy and its impact on financial behaviour among young adults.
  • Analyse and model survey responses
  • Results presentation and findings summary
  • Explore practical implications for financial education or interventions

Research activities

  • Expand and update literature review
  • Use statistical techniques to explore correlations between financial literacy levels and various financial behaviours (e.g., saving, investing, budgeting)
  • Prepare a final report and presentation summarizing the findings and offering recommendations for improving financial literacy education.

Outcomes

  • To model the relationship between engagement with personal finances, financial literacy, and financial habits of young adults entering the workforce; and
  • To develop potential ways of addressing poor financial habits through financial education or interventions.

Skills and experience

The ability to perform a literature scan and foundational knowledge of statistics is required. Knowledge of R for statistical analysis would be beneficial. The project scope could be adjusted to the student's interests and background, such as in personal finance, behavioural psychology, or statistical data science.

Start date

18 November, 2024

End date

7 February, 2025

Location

QUT Gardens Point Campus

Additional information

Students will work with an already collected data set. They will have QUT library access to journals, and QUT subscriptions to statistical software such as SPSS or Stata. Students will regularly meet with the principal supervisor.

Keywords

Contact

Elisabeth Sinnewe, 07 3138 0085, elisabeth.sinnewe@qut.edu.au