Citation

Romney AK, Smith T, Freeman HE, Kagan J, Klein RE. Soc. Sci. Res. 1979; 8(4): 302-326.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1979, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/S0049-089X(79)80002-2

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

In this paper, we present a method for eliciting and describing indigenous concepts of success and failure. The domains of success and failure are first identified by obtaining from respondents a large number of statements that describe people in terms of perceived "success" and "failure." This pool of statements is systematically reduced and the final items are submitted to similarity judgments by additional respondents. Multidimensional scaling and cluster analysis techniques are used to analyze the similarity data. The final success and failure schemes are represented by three-dimensional models. The results are highly robust and reliable. Reliability is above .90. The methods for the collection and analysis of data are applied to four samples in the Los Angeles area. The results constitute a cultural description of the domains of success and failure that should be valid for comparable populations in the United States. The results have "external validity" since the methods are "respondent centered" and free from any researcher-imposed categories or structure. For this reason, the approach is suited for use in other cultures.