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| Posted By , 17 April 2023 Updated: 17 April 2023 |
| As part of my School-Centred Initial Teacher Training (SCITT) provided through an apprenticeship route into teaching, I’ve had access to schools and experts involved in the EXCEED Academy Trust in Bradford. Schools regard inclusion as a high priority and it is a recurring feature in training days and embedded into all aspects of the SCITT curriculum. Through my experiences on the course and in the classroom, I’ve become particularly intrigued by inclusion and what it looks like for more able learners. I’ve seen more able learning promoted through higher-order questioning, adaptive teaching and teaching for creativity. This has been an area I’ve reflected upon during my own teaching practice, where I wondered about effective strategies, the superficiality of some techniques employed, and how they could be made more effective without increasing workload. The PGCE programme, in conjunction with Leeds Trinity University and EXCEED Academy Trust, encourages student teachers to critically examine research and other evidence and reflect on their own professional practice in relation to a specific learning need faced by pupils in school. Master’s Level study in the PGCE programme comprises two assignments each contributing 30 credits; these are professionally focused and are taught by blog co-author Dr Jonathan Doherty. The assignments build upon the strong thread of reflection in teaching, drawing together observations in schools and understanding from taught sessions at the university and in-school CPD. Inclusion remains high on education policy agendas. Inclusive education is based on the belief that all members of society have the right to participate in and have access to education on an equal basis. Inclusion is a fundamental right for all learners – not just those who are deemed ‘vulnerable’ or those having special education needs. The module and first assignment, ‘Supporting Individual Needs’, is intended to develop thinking around this theme and challenge values to enable effective inclusive teaching that are culturally and individually responsive so that all children can succeed. This assignment uses reflection and critical incident theory to support meeting a specific need for a child. Becoming an effective teacher involves considerably more than accumulating skills and strategies. It involves critical reflection. The more teachers explore, the more they discover (Larrivee, 2000). Critical incident analysis (CIA) is an approach to understanding and dealing with challenges in everyday professional practice. The term ‘critical incident’ refers to an event or situation which marks a significant turning point or change for someone. Incidents that teachers deal with in everyday teaching become critical through reflection and then analysis. An incident becomes a critical incident as a result of 1) reflecting about it; 2) thinking critically about it; and then 3) applying an analysis framework to it. Critical reflection has several benefits for teachers: it informs future practice and informs appropriate action in similar future situations. A number of models exist to support critical reflection, but I used McAteer et al. (2010) to explore an incident with a more able pupil that occurred in my classroom. The incident related to a more able Year 2 pupil working at greater depth and a far higher level than his peers. The lesson was teaching to include emotions in diary writing in English. He displayed classic signs of a high ability learner by finishing set work easily and then appearing to disengage in the lesson. Individual follow-up activities for him did not engage him either and his behaviour began to quickly deteriorate. He started chatting and I observed a snowball effect, disrupting other children. In my analysis of this short classroom episode and applying the CIA framework, my immediate thoughts were of frustration that I had not met the boy’s individual needs. Later, through deeper reflection, conversations with my teacher and class-based mentor and my knowledge of more able learning, I was able to explore other perspectives with regard to the incident and consider ways to provide appropriate challenge for this boy in future. This included looking again at teacher assessment frameworks for writing, to understand in more detail what targets and requirements were needed for greater depth learners; annotating planning with a next step for any child who had met the success criteria of the lesson, which I, or any support staff could access to further their learning. I investigated teaching for creativity and methods such as teaching children that it is acceptable to make mistakes, working backwards and looking at gaps in knowledge. I reflected on the importance of taking time to identify the pupil’s learning on his writing journey and looking at greater depth and potentially higher year frameworks to support his learning. NACE’s guidance on cognitive load theory (available to members ) affirmed some of my assumptions and suggested that more able learners may not need to spend as much time on retrieval practices. I will now allocate more time to providing opportunities for independent learning activities which are rich in cognitive challenge. Reading research has made me consider the impact of providing more able children with advanced content and making it accessible in different ways, enabling better engagement. The experience has taught me much about teaching and extended my knowledge of more able learners. Going forward I will be better informed to identify where children are on their individual learning journeys and so quickly gauge next steps. The experience has also made me realise where I myself am on my own learning journey. I am not the finished article but have many positive aspects of my practice which I need to continually reflect upon. There are many sources to draw on for information and specific reflection that will allow other aspects of my teaching to fall into place. By being proactive in learning, such honest critical reflection will support me to gauge the needs of the children to further their journeys. , 1:3, pp. 293-307 . Exeter: Learning Matters. | Comments (0) |
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Essentials of Constructivist Critical Incident Technique
Available formats.
- Table of contents
- Contributor bios
- Reviews and awards
- Book details
This book is a step-by-step guide to designing and realizing a constructivist critical incident (Constructivist CIT) study. This qualitative methodology explores critical moments in people's lived experiences.
The authors offer the first comprehensive overview of Constructivist CIT, a structured, yet flexible methodology used to explore lived experience and improve practice and process by studying critical or meaningful moments and experiences.
The authors introduce Constructivist CIT in relation to its well-established parent method Critical Incident Technique, which has been used widely in the social sciences, health care, and business. Readers will learn how to ensure the trustworthiness of their study’s design, collect and analyze the data, and write up and submit their study for publication.
An intuitive method, Constructivist CIT is an accessible method for novice researchers as well as seasoned scholars expanding their qualitative repertoire.
Series Foreword
- Chapter 1. Contextual Foundations of Critical Incident Technique
- Chapter 2. Establishing Methodological Integrity
- Chapter 3. Designing the Study
- Chapter 4. Collecting Data
- Chapter 5. Analyzing Data
- Chapter 6. Deepening the Analysis
- Chapter 7. Writing the Manuscript
- Chapter 8. Variations on the Method
- Chapter 9. Conclusion
Exemplar Studies and Reviews
About the Authors
Harriet L. Schwartz, PhD , is a professor of relational practice and higher education in Antioch University’s PhD in Leadership and Change program. Her scholarly interests include teaching as relational practice, emotion and teaching, and qualitative research methods, particularly critical incident technique and grounded theory. The author of Connected Teaching: Relationship, Power, and Mattering in Higher Education (Stylus, 2019), Harriet is a leader in applying Relational Cultural Theory (RCT) in education.
She serves as lead scholar for education as relational practice and on the leadership team for the International Center for Growth in Connection. Along with numerous journal articles, Harriet has published two New Directions for Teaching and Learning sourcebooks, coediting Teaching and Emotion and editing Interpersonal Boundaries in Teaching and Learning. Harriet worked in student affairs for many years before transitioning to a faculty career. Along with teaching in leadership programs on the master’s and doctoral levels, she has also taught in counseling, student affairs, and education graduate programs.
Elizabeth L. Holloway, PhD. , professor emerita of Antioch University, has over 35 years of experience as a research scientist, practitioner, and consultant in clinical supervision, relational practice, and respectful workplaces. She has held professorships at the Universities of California, Utah, Oregon, Wisconsin, and Antioch University. During her academic career, Elizabeth has achieved distinction for her research and practice, including a Fellow of APA, a Diplomate of the American Board of Professional Psychology, and a recipient of the American Educational Research Association Research Award for Counseling.
Her methodological expertise includes discourse analysis, grounded theory, narrative inquiry, critical incident technique, and case study design. She has authored or coauthored eight books. A recent update of her original supervision model, Essentials of Supervision: A Systems Approach (with accompanying film), was published in 2016 (Chinese version in press). Her most recent work with co-author Harriet Schwartz introduces a constructivist approach to Critical Incident Technique methodology. Elizabeth teaches workshops on her model of clinical supervision and building respectful workplaces worldwide.
This book is a “must-have” text for any researcher who is engaging with the Critical Incident Technique. It is skillfully crafted to be useful to novice and experienced researchers alike. I wish the authors had written it years ago when I first discovered the delights (and the complexities) of this most interesting research approach. —Caroline Bradbury-Jones, PhD, Bangor University, Wales, UK; Professor at School of Nursing & Midwifery, Medical School, University of Birmingham, England
Learn to deconstruct complex experiences and understand the turning points that shaped them. This accessibly written book is your guide to applying Critical Incident Technique, providing a clear step-by step framework and practical examples to support researchers, students, and academic supervisors uncover valuable research findings. —Dr Stephanie Finan, Assistant Professor Psychotherapy, Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland; BA, University of Galway, Galway, Ireland; MSc, Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland, DPsych, Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland
Flanagan offered researchers relatively few rules for the use of his critical incident technique. Schwartz and Holloway’s presentation of the constructivist critical incident technique (a slight variant of Flanagan’s approach), provides researchers with the guidance they have needed while still preserving the flexibility that has been a hallmark of the approach. This practical and engaging book is one I wish I had had years ago! —Rodney Goodyear, PhD, Emeritus Professor, both University of Southern California (USC), Los Angeles, CA, and University of Redlands, Redlands, CA, United States
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Critical incident analysis: reflections of a teacher educator
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Abstract | As a teacher educator I consider myself an advocate for research-informed education, and strongly believe that it starts with one’s own critical self-reflection and analysis of one’s own teaching practice. Critical incident analysis is a pedagogical theory developed by Tripp (1993), whose analytical approaches allow reflection on teaching situations – ‘the critical incident’ – so that teachers can develop their professional judgments and practices. This article examines the concept of critical incident analysis through a teaching situation, with the aim of improving the teaching practice of students on teacher education programmes. I conclude that although critical incident analysis is a useful tool in navigating teaching practices, often challenges need to be addressed at much broader levels than the teaching context itself. |
| Journal | Research in Teacher Education |
| Research in Teacher Education | |
| Journal citation | 6 (1), pp. 25-29 |
| ISSN | 2046-1240 |
| 2047-3818 | |
| Year | 2016 |
| Publisher | University of East London, Cass School of Education and Communities |
| Publisher's version | RITE MAY 16 - Mohammed.pdf |
| Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | |
| Web address (URL) | |
| Publication dates | |
| May 2016 | |
| Publication process dates | |
| 05 Jul 2016 | |
| Copyright information | © 2016 The author |
https://repository.uel.ac.uk/item/8512y
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| RITE MAY 16 - Mohammed.pdf | ||
| License: CC BY | ||
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Effective Classroom Teaching Methods: A Critical Incident Technique from Millennial Nursing Students’ Perspective
Engaging nursing students in the classroom environment positively influences their ability to learn and apply course content to clinical practice. Students are motivated to engage in learning if their learning preferences are being met. The methods nurse educators have used with previous students in the classroom may not address the educational needs of Millennials. This manuscript presents the findings of a pilot study that used the Critical Incident Technique. The purpose of this study was to gain insight into the teaching methods that help the Millennial generation of nursing students feel engaged in the learning process. Students’ perceptions of effective instructional approaches are presented in three themes. Implications for nurse educators are discussed.
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Critical Incident Techniques and Reflection in Nursing and Health Professions Education
Systematic narrative review.
Steven, Alison PhD, RN; Wilson, Gemma PhD; Turunen, Hannele PhD, RN; Vizcaya-Moreno, M. Flores PhD, RN; Azimirad, Mina MNSc, RN; Kakurel, Jayden PhD; Porras, Jari PhD; Tella, Susanna PhD, RN; Pérez-Cañaveras, Rosa PhD, RN; Sasso, Loredana MEdSc, RN; Aleo, Giuseppe PhD; Myhre, Kristin PhD, RN; Ringstad, Øystein PhD; Sara-Aho, Arja RN; Scott, Margaret RN; Pearson, Pauline PhD, RN
Author Affiliations: Professor of Research in Nursing and Health Professions Education (Dr Steven) and Vice Chancellors Fellow (Dr Wilson), Department of Nursing, Midwifery and Health, Northumbria University, United Kingdom; Professor of Nursing (Dr Turunen) and PhD Student (Ms Azimirad), Department of Nursing Science, University of Eastern Finland, Finland; Associate Professors (Drs Vizcaya-Moreno and Pérez-Cañaveras), Nursing Department, University of Alicante, Spain; Postdoctoral Researcher (Dr Kakurel), Copenhagen Centre for Health Technology, Denmark; Professor of Innovation & Software (Dr Porras), Department of Innovation & Software, Lappeenranta University of Technology, Finland; Senior Lecturer (Dr Tella) and Lecturer (Ms Sara-Aho), Faculty of Health Care and Social Services, Saimaa University of Applied Sciences, Finland; Professor of Nursing (Ms Sasso) and Lecturer, (Dr Aleo), Department of Health Sciences, University of Genoa, Italy; Associate Professors (Drs Myhre and Ringstad), Østfold University College, Norway; and Senior Lecturer (Ms Scott) and Professor of Nursing (Dr Pearson), Department of Nursing, Midwifery and Health, Northumbria University, United Kingdom.
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
Correspondence: Dr Steven, Department of Nursing, Midwifery and Health, Northumbria University, Coach Lane Campus, Benton, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom NE7 7XA ( [email protected] ).
Supplemental digital content is available for this article. Direct URL citations appear in the printed text and are provided in the HTML and PDF versions of this article on the journal’s Web site ( www.nurseeducatoronline.com ).
Accepted for publication: November 19, 2019
Published ahead of print: January 14, 2020
Cite this article as: Steven A, Wilson G, Turunen H, et al. Critical incident techniques and reflection in nursing and health professions education: systematic narrative review. Nurse Educ . 2020;45(6):E57-E61. doi: 10.1097/NNE.0000000000000796
Background
The terms critical incident technique and reflection are widely used but often not fully explained, resulting in ambiguity.
Purpose
The aims of this review were to map and describe existing approaches to recording or using critical incidents and reflection in nursing and health professions literature over the last decade; identify challenges, facilitating factors, strengths, and weaknesses; and discuss relevance for nursing education.
Methods
A systematic narrative review was undertaken. MEDLINE and the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature were searched using MeSH terms, returning 223 articles (2006-2017). After exclusions, 41 were reviewed.
Results
Articles were categorized into 3 areas: descriptions of the development of an original tool or model, critical incidents or reflection on events used as a learning tool, and personal reflections on critical incidents.
Conclusions
Benefits have been identified in all areas. More attention is needed to the pedagogy of reflection and the role of educators in reflection.
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The Critical Incident Technique
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- First Online: 23 May 2017
- pp 1077–1083
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Organizations are often challenged to identify and resolve workplace problems. The Critical Incident technique gives them a starting point and a process for advancing organizational development through learning experiences. It helps them study “what people do” in various situations.
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- Action learning
- After-action reviews and retrospects
- Appreciative inquiry
- Competencies
- Critical knowledge
- Empowerment
- Explicitation interviews
- Exploration
- Focus groups
- Learning interventions
- Observation
- Organizational problem solving
- Performance records
- Psychological research
- Root-cause analysis
- Situational assessments
- Work diaries
In a Word Organizations are often challenged to identify and resolve workplace problems. The Critical Incident technique gives them a starting point and a process for advancing organizational development through learning experiences. It helps them study “what people do” in various situations.
Tales of the Unexpected
One might think there are no answers to the following questions: How fast can you think on your feet? How do you react in the face of the unexpected? How can you prepare if you cannot predict? And yet, there are.
Evidently, some behaviors contribute to the success or failure of individuals—and organizations—in specific situations. And so, responses to the unforeseen lie in identifying before the fact events or circumstances, or series of them, that are outside the range of ordinary human experiences.
The questions posed earlier are as old as mankind; but our ability to address them owes largely to the relatively recent work of John Flanagan. Footnote 1 These days critical incidents can be harvested to provide a rich, personal perspective of life that facilitates understanding of the issues and obstacles people face every now and then and illuminates avenues for improvement (or replication if outcomes are effective)—avenues that may not be apparent through purely quantitative methods of data collection. This should matter to high-performance organizations.
If history repeats itself, and the unexpected always happens, how incapable must Man be of learning from experience. —George Bernard Shaw
Of Critical Incidents, Their Analysis …
A critical incident Footnote 2 need not be spectacular: it suffices that it should hold significance. As such, at the individual level, it can be events or circumstances that made one stop and think, perhaps revisit one’s assumptions, or impacted one’s personal and professional learning. At the collective level, it can be a systemic problem from organizational maladaptation, or an issue arising from differences among stakeholders. In short, an incident may be defined as critical when the action(s) taken contributed to an effective or an ineffective outcome. At heart, all incidents pertain to matters such as culture, knowledge, competence , relationships, beliefs, emotions, communication, or treatment.
Relaxing eligibility criteria lets stakeholders select incidents for a range of purposes (by and large categorized under planning and exploration , evaluation , and empowerment and animation ). This is assuredly what Flanagan ( 1954 ) must have intended: in his seminal article, written 10 years after the Second World War, he described the Critical Incident technique as “a set of procedures for collecting direct observations of human behavior in such a way as to facilitate their potential usefulness in solving practical problems and developing broad psychological principles”. To wit, the technique seeks, largely through qualitative processes of exploration and investigation, to identify actions associated with effective or acceptable performance in defined situations. Footnote 3 Hence, the analysis of a critical incident describes the setting in which an incident occurred, the behavior (including the attitudes, emotions, skills, knowledge, and resources) of the people involved, and the outcome or result of the behavior. The analysis brings cognitive, affective, and behavioral dimensions together, touching both the content of what is learned and the process of learning.
To expect the unexpected shows a thoroughly modern intellect. —Oscar Wilde
… And the Outline of a Process to Map Them
The versatility of the Critical Incident technique is demonstrated by the variety of its possible applications across the sectors, professions, and disciplines in which it has found favor. They include, for instance, observing effective or ineffective ways of doing something; identifying conducive or limiting factors; collecting behavioral descriptions of problems; and determining functional characteristics that are critical to certain aspects of a situation. Hence, the technique should be applied through flexible steps: it cannot follow a single, rigid set of rules.
When analyzing a critical incident, reflective individuals ask: Why did I view the original situation in that way? What assumptions about it did I make? How else could I have interpreted it? What other action(s) might I have taken that could have been more helpful? What will I do if I am faced again with a similar situation?
Organizations find this much more difficult to do, the degree of complication depending on their type, e.g., entrepreneurial, machine, diversified, professional, innovative, missionary, or political. Fortunately, the Critical Incident technique structures such queries with a versatile, open-ended method of data collection for improving organizational performance that can be applied effectively in varied situations. This makes it a much-awaited addition to organizational tool kits. (Kolb’s 1984 ) learning cycle, which emerged later, is reminiscent of it.) Additionally, by managing the issue internally, organizations are given the opportunity to collaboratively resolve problems without all-too-frequent reliance on consultants. Footnote 4
Source Author
Fig. Learning by doing.
Under the technique, critical incidents are generated by asking individuals, usually subject-matter experts, to describe through interviews Footnote 5 incidents they (or someone else) handled well or poorly. (Where the critical incident is a spectacular success , the Critical Incident technique complements the process of appreciative inquiry . However, organizations tend to ignore great achievements, in a technical sense; this means that the technique’s value is more commonly seen to lie in helping them fix problems and eradicate causes of failure .)
To kick off a Critical Incident technique intervention, it is essential to agree on whether the issue meets established critical incident criteria and then prepare a clear, concise statement of the purpose of the intervention. Footnote 6 (Obviously, the amplitude of consequences should define criticality.) If the issue meets the criteria, can the agency secure stakeholder support and capacities for an intervention? Next, one must understand what core questions need to be addressed, Footnote 7 especially as this helps prioritize the intervention and its expected impact against other priorities. Specifically,
What were the events or circumstances that led to the critical incident?
What were the behaviors of the agents that made these (events or circumstances) a critical incident?
What were the outcomes of the critical incident?
What are the possible future outcomes if behaviors remain unchanged?
What are the possible future outcomes if behaviors change based on lessons learned?
One should then decide on the investigative method and the population to be tapped in the context of the intervention. The subsequent steps rest on more familiar tools, methods, and approaches for project management, entailing as they do actual collection and analysis of data; the design and review of strategies and plans for problem solving; implementation and monitoring; evaluation ; and requisite adjustments. Footnote 8
If you do not expect the unexpected, you will not find it; for it is hard to be sought out, and difficult. —Heraclitus
Advantages and Limitations
The Critical Incident technique shows promise, but is still establishing itself as a qualitative research tool. Since it focuses on behavior, it can be leveraged in numerous events or circumstances as long as the inherent bias of retrospective judgment is understood. Some advantages are the following:
The Critical Incident technique helps identify and analyze rare events or circumstances that might not be picked up by methods of investigation dealing with everyday episodes. Its focus on critical issues can bring major benefits.
The Critical Incident technique maximizes the positive and minimizes the negative attributes of anecdotes, turning complex experiences into rich data and information. Most people enjoy telling stories: they like to be listened to and are glad that their experiences are thought important. Especially when data and information are collected anonymously, investigators can obtain deep information about the emotions, feelings, and actions of individuals, and find new meaning. (As you would expect, the technique is therefore especially useful where hazard, security, or privacy confuse a situation.)
Critical incidents provide dramatic demonstrations of the impact of behavior , whose cause and severity may not have been known. With real-life examples, they tell the human story behind action(s) and their outcomes and spark interest in associated reports and presentations.
Critical incidents help gauge abstract constructs such as motivation through their demonstration in reported behavior. (These are more difficult to assess with other tools, methods, and approaches.)
Critical incidents provide in-depth information at a much lower cost and with much greater ease than observation .
Some limitations are that the following:
Critical incidents cast a personal perspective on organizational issues. (Reports of behavior are filtered through the lens of individual perceptions, memory, honesty, and bias: for that reason, they may not be entirely accurate.) Therefore, the Critical Incident technique may need to be combined with other methods of data collection, analysis, and interpretation before an organization can obtain a comprehensive understanding of a situation.
Similarly, it cannot be assumed that people can and will provide incidents that are critical to success in their particular jobs—hence the need to select critical incidents carefully—nor that qualitative analysis alone is enough to clearly identify the aptitudes , proficiencies, and temperaments underlying success or failure .
Some applications of the Critical Incident technique take time: investigation of data and information can be laborious.
It may not be easy to convince people to share critical incidents if the investigative approach requires them to write their own stories.
John Flanagan (1906–1996), an American psychologist, devised aptitude tests for the selection of aircrews during the Second World War. To identify the skills service members needed, trainees and their observers were asked to recount incidents when a subject had succeeded or failed. John Flanagan's team then characterized common threads in the aptitude, proficiency, and temperament underlying success or failure. After identifying the critical requirements of a good pilot, copilot, navigator, and bombardier, he formulated tests that looked for those qualities. John Flanagan later adapted the technique to education. He questioned high-school students to discover what they liked, what they were able to do, and how much instruction and career counseling they were receiving. Follow-up research 1, 5, and 11 years after their graduation revealed that schools had frustrated some of the best students. John Flanagan then framed systems for individualized study plans. The Critical Incident technique has since then been used in management—more specifically human resource management, for example, to establish performance requirements for positions; customer service; education; health; information systems development; operation of complex devices; surgery; and industry.
An incident is an occurrence or condition, contingent on or related to something else, that interrupts normal procedure.
Critical incidents can thereby be used to identify the learning needs of personnel.
The rationale for not relying too much on consulting services is well argued in Parcell and Collison ( 2009 ). Without straying from the topic of these Knowledge Solutions , in keeping with their focus on reflective practice, it is instructive to ponder the five key questions Geoff Parcell and Chris Collison invite an organization to pose: Can we identify the issue? Do we know our internal capability? Does anyone do this well internally? Do we know who is good at it externally? Having identified who does it well, are they available to help us, either by sharing what they know or by implementing it? Their book then marks out a workable framework for an organization to ascertain when and why it should rely on the expertise and experience of its own people. (Regrettably, the authors make no reference to the Critical Incident technique.)
To clarify, information about critical incidents in an organization can be collected through numerous vehicles other than interviews. They include focus groups , surveys , performance records, and work diaries . In focus groups, a facilitator leads a small number of people to identify and describe in structured discussion specific examples of, say, past performance. Surveys can be administered in print or online. (The individuals completing the surveys may be assembled in a room, or may complete the survey on their own.) Examination of performance records might, for example, focus on leadership and personnel satisfaction. Another method of investigation is work diaries that can be drawn to record incidents of successes or failures as they occur during the working day or working week.
This may require that guidelines for selecting, observing, interpreting, and classifying critical incidents be drawn beforehand.
People are more likely to give candid accounts of their experiences if they are assured of anonymity. This is especially important if they belong to communities that share strong bonds.
For a methodological guide on key steps of the Critical Incident technique, see Hettlage and Steinlin ( 2006 ).
Flanagan J (1954) The critical incident technique. Psychological Bulletin 51(4):327–358
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Serrat, O. (2017). The Critical Incident Technique. In: Knowledge Solutions. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-0983-9_123
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The critical incident technique in ux.
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The critical incident technique (CIT) is a systematic procedure for obtaining rich, qualitative information about significant incidents from observers with firsthand experience, which in turn helps researchers understand the critical requirements for individuals, processes or systems.
The critical incident technique (CIT) is a research method in which the research participant is asked to recall and describe a time when a behavior, action, or occurrence impacted (either positively or negatively) a specified outcome (for example, the accomplishment of a given task).
The instance reported by the participant is known as an ‘incident’. In order for the incident to be critical, the participant must be confident that the event had a causal relationship with the outcome (which is the focus of the study). An example of a critical incident question is given below:
Please think of an Agile project that you worked on that was successful. Please describe a specific time when someone did something (or something happened) that positively contributed to the success of that project.
This method was formally introduced to the social sciences by John Flanagan, in a seminal paper published in the Psychological Bulletin in 1954. The technique was developed and finessed in numerous studies undertaken by Flanagan and fellow psychologists from the US Aviation Psychology Program during the second World War, and later by the American Institute for Research and the University of Pittsburgh. Since the publication of Flanagan’s paper, the CIT has become popular in the social sciences and has found applications in human–computer interaction research, because it facilitates the gathering of many detailed ‘incidents’ (behaviors or events). These are useful in understanding critical requirements for roles, systems, and processes. For example, the CIT has been used to highlight characteristics of successful personnel (such as leaders, nurses, doctors, air-traffic controllers), as well as critical requirements for processes (such as training programs and services) and interfaces.
In UX, the CIT is often used in user interviews . However, critical incidents can also be captured using questionnaires, focus groups , or structured diary studies . Flanagan believed that researchers carrying out ethnographic-style research could also document critical incidents, although little has been said on how this approach should be implemented.
Using the critical incident technique is slightly different from asking a standard, example-style question in a user interview. The table below shows some questions that could be given to employees to learn about their experience using an enterprise tool. A critical incident question is compared to other example-style questions.
| The participant is asked: | Type of question |
|---|---|
| the participant is asked to provide an example; there is no direction from the researcher as to what kind of example. The answer could be anything that happened to come to the participant’s mind. | |
| The participant is asked to describe the most recent time. This is not necessarily a critical incident, just the most recent. | |
| the participant is asked to think of a specific incident that was critical to the accomplishment of a task. |
Usually, in a critical incident interview, the participant is given time to think of each incident before describing it, as recall can often take time. The interviewer also has carefully scripted followup questions meant to elicit enough factual information about the incident. The interview could look something like this:
| Interviewer introduces the focus of the study | |
| Check tool-use criteria | |
| Critical incidents (positive) | |
| Clarification questions | |
| Seek out further incidents | |
| Critical incidents (negative) | |
| Clarification questions | |
| Seek out further incidents |
Generally speaking, when the researcher seeks critical incidents, the participant is asked for events that demonstrate both positive and negative effects on the outcome. These questions are usually separate, as in the example interview above. However, in some cases, the researcher may ask for a positive or negative case at the same time and allow the participant to choose which incident to begin with. When asked separately, it is typical to begin with asking for positive incidents in order to begin constructively.
When the critical incident technique is used in research, each participant could contribute many incidents. It is quite possible that hundreds of incidents (sometimes thousands) are collected through numerous interviews which then need to be coded . When codes are well saturated (e.g., there are many incidents for each code), researchers can be fairly confident that they have documented the core requirements for the object of study. In the enterprise-tool example, these requirements could include ease of access (users need to be able to find and open the tool quickly), responsiveness (the tool needs to respond quickly — for example, autosave shouldn’t slow users down), or nonintrusive updates (updates should not interrupt the user at work).
In This Article:
Pros and cons of using the critical incident technique.
This method has some advantages, as well as some key disadvantages for usability research.
- Quickly uncovers system issues
- Captures incidents over a long timeframe: Participants can go back as long as they can remember. As a result, incidents could span years. This is an advantage over observational research, which is often time restricted.
- Captures information about rare or uncommon incidents: When observing users in their domain, key incidents are not always witnessed because they are rare or uncommon. The CIT makes discovery of these incidents possible.
- Emphasis on more-important issues rather than less-important issues. Most other methods usually collect a preponderance of low-importance issues, simply because they tend to be more numerous. Of course, there’s no guarantee every reported critical incident is actually important, but significant events will likely be easier to recall than minor incidents.
- Flexible : The CIT can be applied in interviews, focus groups, and surveys.
- Relies on memory and pure recall: Memory is fallible, and so details can often be lost, or critical incidents can be forgotten. Recall is also challenging and even stressful for some participants, particularly in a face-to-face setting.
- Doesn’t represent typical usage: Often, participants recall extreme events, but small usability issues and typical usage are rarely mentioned in CIT interviews.
When deciding whether to use the critical incident technique, consider what your research goal is and whether a usability test or observation in the field will be better suited for achieving it. If using the critical incident technique in your research, ensure that you know what type of incidents you want to learn about. Take the time to compose an interview script and pilot it to check that your questions aren’t too prescriptive, vague, or ambiguous. (Anecdotally, researchers have found that varying the types of words used in the critical incident question can affect the type of incidents recalled, so think carefully on how not to lead participants ). Lastly, you will always learn more about how people use existing interfaces and what their pain points are if you carry out observational research, such as contextual inquiry or usability testing .
The critical incident technique (CIT) is a useful methodology to uncover critical requirements for people, systems, and processes. When using the CIT, ensure that you are clear on the kind of incidents you want to study, prepare an interview script, and pilot it. Complement CIT interviews, focus groups, or surveys with observational research (like contextual inquiry and usability tests) to get an accurate picture of the usability of systems, products, or services.
Flanagan, J.C. (1954). The Critical Incident Technique. Psychological Bulletin , 51(4), 327-357.
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Critical incident technique: a user's guide for nurse researchers
Affiliation.
- 1 Jessica Schluter BN RN PhD Student School of Nursing and Midwifery, Griffith University, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia Philippa Seaton PhD RN Coordinator International Programs Research Centre for Clinical Practice Innovation, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Griffith University, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia Wendy Chaboyer PhD RN Director Research Centre for Clinical Practice Innovation, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Griffith University, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
- PMID: 18173737
- DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2648.2007.04490.x
Aim: This paper is a description of the development and processes of the critical incident technique and its applicability to nursing research, using a recently-conducted study of the Australian nursing workforce as an exemplar. Issues are raised for consideration prior to the technique being put into practice.
Background: Since 1954, the critical incident technique has been used to study people's activities in a variety of professions. This five-step technique can be modified for specific settings and research questions. The fruitfulness of a study using the technique relies on gaining three important pieces of information. First, participants' complete and rich descriptions of the situation or event to be explored; secondly, the specific actions of the person/s involved in the event to aid understanding of why certain decisions were made; thirdly, the outcome of the event, to ascertain the effectiveness of the behaviour. As in other qualitative methodologies, an inductive analysis process can be used with the critical incident technique.
Findings: Rich contextual information can be obtained using this technique. It generates information and uncovers tacit knowledge through assisting participants to describe their thought processes and actions during the event. Use of probing questions that determine how participants take part in certain events, or act in the ways they do, greatly enhances the outcome. A full interpretation of the event can only occur when all its aspects are provided.
Conclusion: The critical incident technique is a practical method that allows researchers to understand complexities of the nursing role and function, and the interactions between nurses and other clinicians.
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COMMENTS
The identification and analysis of critical incidents have gained a widespread acceptance as an effective and meaningful way to examine the intricacies and com - plexities of professional learning (Brandenburg 2008; Brookfield 1995; Lishchinsky 2011; Tripp 2012). The critical incident technique was created post-World War II by
When peoples' expectations of the communication differ, they may overreact to the situation or take offence creating a critical incident. For example, in the following scenario (see Box 6.1) a Chinese student may have overreacted when a domestic student asked her about her method of cooking. Box 6.1 A critical incident in student accommodation
Incidents that teachers deal with in everyday teaching become critical through reflection and then analysis. An incident becomes a critical incident as a result of 1) reflecting about it; 2) thinking critically about it; and then 3) applying an analysis framework to it. Critical reflection has several benefits for teachers: it informs future ...
The critical incident technique was created post-World War II by Flanagan and has had widespread application in a range of professions, although it has only been recently that the power of critical incident identification and analysis has been extensively adopted and embraced in education research (Shapira-Lishchinsky 2011). Examining critical ...
The critical incident technique (or CIT) is a set of procedures used for collecting direct observations of human behavior that have critical significance and meet methodically defined criteria. These observations are then kept track of as incidents, which are then used to solve practical problems and develop broad psychological principles. A critical incident can be described as one that makes ...
Harriet L. Schwartz, PhD, is a professor of relational practice and higher education in Antioch University's PhD in Leadership and Change program.Her scholarly interests include teaching as relational practice, emotion and teaching, and qualitative research methods, particularly critical incident technique and grounded theory.
Eilbert, L.R. (1957) 'A Tentative Definition of Emotional Immaturity Utilizing the Critical Incident Technique', Personnel and Guidance Journal 35: 554-563 . Google Scholar Eisner, E.W. (2003) 'On the Art and Science of Qualitative Research in Psychology', in P.M. Camic, J.E. Rhodes and L. Yardley (eds) Qualitative Research in ...
Abstract. This brief article discusses David Tripp's approaches to the analysis of incidents, and how the practice he describes can help teachers to develop their professional judgement. It starts ...
However, teachers may correlate critical incidents with negative experiences, or they even describe their negative experiences at school as a critical incident (Papadopoulou & Symeonidis, 2020). Critical Incidents Technique (CIT) can be utilized during the analysis of critical incidents.
The Critical Incident Technique (or CIT) is a set of procedures used for collecting direct observations of human behavior that have critical significance and meet methodically defined criteria [23 ...
Critical incident analysis is a pedagogical theory developed by Tripp (1993), whose analytical approaches allow reflection on teaching situations - 'the critical incident' - so that teachers can develop their professional judgments and practices. This article examines the concept of critical incident analysis through a teaching ...
Using the Critical Incident Technique (CIT) of social work values and ethics is often ill-defined and misinterpreted. The most prevalent explanation is that the Anglophone literature, upon which most textbooks and journal articles on values and ethics rely, includes different concepts. Some texts use values and ethics interchangeably, others do not
The critical incident technique (CIT) is a well-established qualitative research tool used in many areas of the health sciences, including nursing, medicine, and dentistry, and their respective education systems. It is a flexible set of principles that can be modified and adapted to meet the specific situation at hand.
The critical incident technique (CIT) is a qualitative research method that is used to. obtain a depth of knowledge and understanding of subjects' responses to selected. situations. The method ...
This manuscript presents the findings of a pilot study that used the Critical Incident Technique. The purpose of this study was to gain insight into the teaching methods that help the Millennial generation of nursing students feel engaged in the learning process. ... A Critical Incident Technique from Millennial Nursing Students' Perspective ...
Aim: To address the information gap on effective strategies for teaching professionalism. Methods: The critical incident technique (CIT) established by Flanagan has proven to be a useful way to structure teaching and/or evaluation of professionalism. Results: By analyzing 'real-life' occurrences of unprofessional behavior with learners, the CIT ...
Background . The terms critical incident technique and reflection are widely used but often not fully explained, resulting in ambiguity.. Purpose . The aims of this review were to map and describe existing approaches to recording or using critical incidents and reflection in nursing and health professions literature over the last decade; identify challenges, facilitating factors, strengths ...
Under the technique, critical incidents are generated by asking individuals, usually subject-matter experts, to describe through interviews 5 incidents they (or someone else) handled well or poorly. (Where the critical incident is a spectacular success , the Critical Incident technique complements the process of appreciative inquiry .
The critical incident technique (CIT) is a qualitative research tool that is frequently used in health services research to explore what helps or hinders in providing good quality care or achieving satisfaction with care provision. However, confusion currently exists on the nature of the CIT: Is it a method for data collection and analysis or a ...
Discussion Critical incident technique is a flexible approach for libraries and information services, based on individuals' experiences of finding and using information to help resolve a ...
The critical incident technique (CIT) is a research method in which the research participant is asked to recall and describe a time when a behavior, action, or occurrence impacted (either positively or negatively) a specified outcome (for example, the accomplishment of a given task). The instance reported by the participant is known as an ...
The critical incident technique (CIT) is a well-established qualitative research tool used in many areas of the health sciences, including nursing, medicine, and dentistry, and their respective ...
Aim: This paper is a description of the development and processes of the critical incident technique and its applicability to nursing research, using a recently-conducted study of the Australian nursing workforce as an exemplar. Issues are raised for consideration prior to the technique being put into practice. Background: Since 1954, the critical incident technique has been used to study ...