Explorations in the Measurement and Prediction of Contributions of One Sample of Scientists

Abstract

Physical scientists at two Air Force research centers were intensively interviewed concerning the nature of scientific productivity and the characteristics of effective scientists. Based on these interview sggestions, data were collected on 52 criteria. These were reduced analytically to 14 factor scores. Following this, several tests and questionnaires were developed for tryout as predictors. Scores from these and previously developed instruments were correlated with the factor scores and three original criteria. In the sample of 107 scientists, criteria most related to tests and questionnaires (in terms of number of significant correlations) were ratings of likaleness as a member of a research tea, membership in professional societies, organizational status, rated work output, supervisory ratings on over-all performance, and peer rankings on over-all productivity. The instruments that had scores correlating with the greatest number of criteria were a biographical data questionnaire, selfratings, and a questionnaire designed to measure minimum level of apiration. The outcomes of this investigation were identification of a wide variety of measurable criteria and a number of self-report instruments suitable for future longitudinal follow-up and validation as a means of identifying kinds of scientific talent needed by the Air Force.

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