Affiliation:
1. The Pennsylvania State University
Abstract
Most research methodology in the behavioral sciences employs interindividual analyses, which provide information about the state of affairs of the population. However, as shown by classical mathematical-statistical theorems (the ergodic theorems), such analyses do not provide information for, and cannot be applied at, the level of the individual, except on rare occasions when the processes of interest meet certain stringent conditions. When psychological processes violate these conditions, the interindividual analyses that are now standardly applied have to be replaced by analysis of intraindividual variation in order to obtain valid results. Two illustrations involving analysis of intraindividual variation of personality and emotional processes are given.
Reference13 articles.
1. Borsboom D. (2005). Measuring the mind: Conceptual issues in contemporary psychometrics. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Addresses the issue of non-ergodicity in the context of psychometrics.
2. Hamaker E.J., Dolan C.V., Molenaar P.C.M. (2005). (See References). A thorough, far-reaching theoretical analysis of intraindividual variation.
3. Molenaar P.C.M. (2004). (See References). The earliest paper addressing the issue of non-ergodicity.
4. Molenaar P.C.M. (2008). Consequences of the ergodic theorems for classical test theory, factor analysis, and the analysis of developmental processes. In Hofer S.M., Alwin D.F. (Eds.), Handbook of cognitive aging (pp. 90–104). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. A highly accessible, comprehensive overview of the issues of non-ergodicity and analysis of intraindividual variation.
5. Nesselroade J.R., Gerstorf D., Hardy S.A., Ram N. (2007). Idiographic filters for psychological constructs. Measurement, 5, 217–235. Provides a more detailed discussion of non-ergodicity and analysis of intraindividual variation.
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