Document Type : Descriptive

Authors

Abstract

The Critical Incident Technique (CIT), a research method that relies on a set of procedures to collect, content analyze, and classify observations of human behavior, was introduced to the social sciences by Flanagan (1954), about 60 years ago. Despite the antiquity ofCIT, it is less well known in Iran. The purpose of this paper is to informe Iranian organizational researchers about CIT. In this paper, we have discussed the philosophical foundation of critical incident technique (CIT). The critical incident technique, is particularly useful when researchers are interested in understanding the details of interactional events. The executive steps of conducting a research by CIT, is discussed. In addition, some criteria for evaluating CIT research, are provided.

Keywords

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