Annotated bibliography on Flanagan’s (1954) article: The critical incident technique

Flanagan, J. C. (1954). The critical incident technique. Psychological Bulletin, 51-4.
Retrieved September 5, 2009 from http://www.apa.org/psycinfo/special/cit




Flanagan (1954) thoroughly describes the development of the critical incident technique (CIT), its fundamental principles and its present status. Flanagan (1954) has organized the content by following subtitles which deal with background and early developments, developmental studies, the procedure in its present form, uses of this technique, a summary and conclusions. The CIT is a tool for collecting data objectively that consists of a careful order of instructions of what to observe and the reasons to do it. Once the information is collected, it must be carefully analyzed in order to draw conclusions and take proper decisions that may help to solve practical problems. “[T]his technique obtains a record of specific behaviors from those in best position to make the necessary observations and evaluations” (Flanagan, 1954, p. 30).