The Critical Incident Technique

Flanagan, J. (1954). The critical incident technique. Psychological Bulletin,
51-4. Retrieved December, 10th 2009,
from http://www.apa.org/psycinfo/special/cit-article.pdf

In his work, Flanagan (1954) describes the development of a method called Critical Incident Technique (CIT) as well as he explains its main principles and its present conditions. There are also some cases studied and some samples forms for different uses. “The critical inicident technique consists of a set of procedures for collecting direct observations of human behaviour...” (Flanagan 1954, The critical incident technique para. 2 ). By means of this method practical problems can be dealt with in different fields. However, as the author concludes “critical incidents represent only raw data and do not automatically provide solutions to problems” (Flanagan, 1954, Summary and Conclusions, para. 3). As regards organization, it can be said that the work includes two parts. The first one deals with how and when the technique started. Sections belonging to this part are: “Background and early developments”, “Developmental studies at the American Institute for Research” and “Studies carried out at the University of Pittsburgh”. The second part is about the description of the technique in itself. Sections referring to it are: 1.The procedure in its present form. 1.1. General aims 1.2. Plans and specifications 1.3. Collecting the data 1.4. Analysing the data 1.5. Interpreting and reporting 2. Uses of the Critical Incident Technique 3. Summary and conclusions.