Using paraphrasing techniques : The Critical Incident Technique (CIT)

The Critical Incident Technique is a method developed by Flanagan(1954) with the aid of some collaborators for the collection of observations of human behavior. According to Flanagan (1954), at the close of World War II some of the psychologists who had participated in the United States of America Air Force (USAAF) Aviation Psychology Program established the American Institute for Research, a nonprofit scientific and educational organization. The aim of this organization was the systematic study of human behavior through a coordinated program of scientific research that followed the same general principles developed in the Aviation Psychology Program. It was in connection with the first two studies undertaken by the Institute in the spring of 1947 that the critical incident technique was more formally developed and given its present name. Paraphrasing techniques providing answers to a questionnaire based on Flanagan (1954)´s article will be practised in this paper.
Flanagan describes the CIT as a collection of procedural direct observations of human behavior which have proved useful to solve problems or incidents in a specific environment. Incident is any complete activity that can be evidenced which allows the observer to infer or predict upon. For the incident to be considered critical, the limits of the situation have to have a clear boundary, where consequences and effects can be easily detected. In this procedure, objectivity in the observer is required.
Objectivity is the impartial judgement based on observable behavior independent of thoughts and feelings. The CIT “does not consist of a single rigid set of rules” (p.9). This means that these procedural statements can be modified or adapted to meet the requirements of the specific environment in consideration. In order to work with CIT it is important to formulate general aims because they will provide the framework for the application of the CIT. The General Aims (GA) are the enumeration and description of the objectives that will lead to the planning of activities and further evaluation . The people in charge of defining the GA are generally those in supervisory positions or other authorities in the field. They carry out interviews among themselves to establish the purpose of the activity,its description and scope . After defining GA , the next step concerns the development of plans and specifications. Critical Incidents are effective for obtaining data because they use and analyze the extremes of behavior , which provide the easiest identification. There are four components needed to collect data : the situations observed, the relevance to the GA, extent of effect on the GA and the persons to make the observations . The first component makes reference to the setting of place, persons, conditions and activities involved in the analysis. The second component deals with the degree of significance that the behavior bears in relation to the GA. The third component focuses on the impact of the observed incident on the GA. The last component deals with the observers, those people in charge of judging the participants in the study.
There are different ways to collect the data. According to Flanagan (1954) some of those procedures are individual interviews, group interviews , questionnaires and record forms . In the educational field any of the four procedures would be appropriate for the application of CIT. The success of one procedure over another does not relate itself to the field as much as to the variable conditions of the groups, such as predisposition or quantity of students, to be applied to.
After the collection of data, the next phase is its analysis . At this stage,the purpose aims at the summary and efficient description of the data so that it can be given practical uses. The CIT has a wide range of areas of application , such as, psychology, education, dentistry, aviation , physics, chemistry, Human Resources, Mechanics, the Air Force and the Army. Flanagan (1954) believes there are some advantages of using critical incidents in the study of operating procedures because they provide the basis for the indispensable systematic analysis to make operations more effective and efficient . The CIT also helps in improving equipment design. In the educational field , one could carry out a study to elucidate the leading factors that make students repeat years in secondary school. With the help of psychopedagogists, teachers would implement new strategies to avoid failures from the very beginning of the courses. According to Flanagan (1954),CIT can help in the study of motivation and leadership because it “ provides a supplementary tool for the study of attitudes” (p.28). As the latest trends in Education adhere to the crucial role of motivation in the process of L2 learning/acquisition , it would be of great usefulness to carry out CIT studies to learn more about problematic issues in students´ motivation .
It is believed that, as time goes by, the CIT will enlarge its range of application, to embrace different areas and to promote the acquisition of proficiency in the different fields of study.

References
Flanagan, J. ( July,1954) The Critical Incident Technique. Psychological Bulletin . Vol. 51, Nº 4. American Institute for Research. Pittsburgh University. U.S.A. Retrieved August 22, 2009,from http://caece.campusuniversidad.com.ar