ABS: Simonton, Significant Samples: The Psychological Study of Eminent Individuals

[Gretchen Whitney]

FN ISI Export Format
VR 1.0
PT J
AU Simonton, DK
TI Significant samples: The psychological study of eminent
   individuals
SO PSYCHOLOGICAL METHODS
C1 Univ Calif Davis, Dept Psychol, 1 Shields Ave, Davis, CA 95616
   USA.
   Univ Calif Davis, Dept Psychol, Davis, CA 95616 USA.
ID TIME-SERIES ANALYSIS; ADJECTIVE CHECK LIST; INTEGRATIVE
   COMPLEXITY; COGNITIVE-STYLE; INTERNATIONAL CRISES; AMERICAN
   PRESIDENTS; CLASSICAL COMPOSERS; DECISION-MAKING; PERSONALITY-
   CHARACTERISTICS; CREATIVE PRODUCTIVITY
AB Psychologists occasionally study eminent individuals, such as
   Nobel laureates, U.S. presidents, Olympic athletes, chess
   grandmasters, movie stars, and even distinguished
   psychologists. Studies using such significant samples may be
   differentiated along 7 distinct dimensions: qualitative versus
   quantitative, single versus multiple case, nomothetic versus
   idiographic, confirmatory versus exploratory, cross-sectional
   versus longitudinal, micro versus macro analytical units, and
   direct versus indirect assessments. However, the vast majority
   of psychological inquiries may be clustered into just 4 types:
   historiometric, psychometric, psychobiographical, and
   comparative. After presenting the intrinsic and extrinsic
   justifications for studying famous persons, the main
   methodological issues concerning sampling, measurement, and
   analysis are discussed. The future prospects of significant
   samples in psychological research are then briefly examined.
BP 425
EP 451
PG 27
JI Psychol. Methods
PY 1999
PD DEC
VL 4
IS 4
GA 268PM
RP Simonton DK
   Univ Calif Davis, Dept Psychol, 1 Shields Ave, Davis, CA 95616 USA.
J9 PSYCHOL METHODS
UT ISI:000084424800006
ER

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