Performance Ratings of Canadian Prime Ministers: Individual and Situational Factors

Ballard, Elizabeth J.; Suedfeld, Peter

doi:10.2307/3790958

Cited by 20 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…This cognitive construct has proven valuable in understanding the performance, ideology, and decision making of United States presidents (Tetlock,198Ib), senators (Tetlock, 198la, 1983;Tetlock, Hannum, & Micheletti, 1984), and Supreme Court justices (Tetlock, Bernzweig, & Gallant, 1985); prominent participants in the slavery debate in antebellum America (Tetlock, Armor, & Peterson, 1994); British parliamentarians (Tetlock, 1984) and Canadian prime ministers (Ballard, 1983;Ballard & Suedfeld, 1988); members of the Soviet Politburo (Tetlock & Boettger, 1989); European diplomats (M. D. Wallace & Suedfeld, 1988); and successful and unsuccessful revolutionaries (Suedfeld & Rank, 1976). This research has made a convincing case that human informationprocessing complexity has tremendous consequences for political ideology and leader performance.…”

Section: Extrinsic Rationalesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Significant samples: The psychological study of eminent individuals.

Simonton

1999

Psychological Methods

134

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Psychologists occasionally study eminent individuals, such as Nobel laureates, U.S. presidents, Olympic athletes, chess grandmasters, movie stars, and even distinguished psychologists. Studies using such significant samples may be differentiated along 7 distinct dimensions: qualitative versus quantitative, single versus multiple case, nomothetic versus idiographic, confirmatory versus exploratory, crosssectional versus longitudinal, micro versus macro analytical units, and direct versus indirect assessments. However, the vast majority of psychological inquiries may be clustered into just 4 types: historiometric, psychometric, psychobiographical, and comparative. After presenting the intrinsic and extrinsic justifications for studying famous persons, the main methodological issues concerning sampling, measurement, and analysis are discussed. The future prospects of significant samples in psychological research are then briefly examined.Empirical journal articles in psychology almost invariably commence their methods section with a subsection in which the researchers define the "subjects" or "participants" of the study (American Psychological Association, 1994). This sample specification comes first because all subsequent procedures and analytical strategies are usually contingent on that choice. An experimental manipulation or psychometric instrument that is indubitably appropriate for one sample might be manifestly inappropriate for another (e.g., whether to use an intelligence test designed for children or adults). In psychology, this sample description is especially critical. Few sciences feature the same diversity of entities that might serve as subjects in psychological research: human beings of every age, gender, ethnicity, occupation, and capacity; animals ranging from mammals, birds, and fish to insects, mollusks, and worms. Yet as diverse as these various subject pools may be, they all seem to have one thing in common: The individuals that compose This article is based on a paper read at the Internationa!

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Section: Extrinsic Rationalesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Significant samples: The psychological study of eminent individuals.

Simonton

1999

Psychological Methods

134

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“…There was thus a need for a ‘more multifaceted view of leadership’, producing ‘several standards of greatness’ or different criteria of success, recognising that government leaders faced differing tasks and problems (Crockett 2002, 239–242). This argument is supported by Ballard and Suedfeld's (1988) study of Canadian academics' ranking of Canadian prime ministers from 1867 to 1988, which concluded that those prime ministers who were seen as having faced difficult problems or issues during their term(s) of office were most likely to be positively evaluated. They argued for an ‘interactive explanation’ of leader success rather than an exclusively person‐oriented or situation‐oriented theory (Ballard and Suedfeld 1988, 299).…”

Section: Conclusion: the Need For A Broader Assessment Of Prime Minismentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Our poll surveyed the views of academics on British prime ministers. As was noted in the equivalent Canadian survey, ‘other groups—journalists, fellow politicians, and the general public—might have responded differently, due to variations in priorities or knowledge’ (Ballard and Suedfeld 1988, 299). Follow‐up research is needed to test for that.…”

Section: Conclusion: the Need For A Broader Assessment Of Prime Minismentioning

confidence: 99%

Rating 20^th-Century British Prime Ministers

Theakston¹,

Gill²

2006

The British Journal of Politics and International Relations

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This article reports the results of a 2004 survey of academics, specialising in British politics and/or modern British history, asking them to rate all the 20th‐century British prime ministers in terms of their success in office and also asking them to assess the key characteristics of successful prime ministers. The top‐ranked PMs were (in order) Attlee, Churchill, Lloyd George and Thatcher. In contrast to the many and regular surveys of American academics ranking US presidents, this is the first large‐scale exercise of this type in British political science. Analysis of the findings in terms of the characteristics of the survey respondents helps shed light on the survey results.

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“…Several researchers have scrutinized the elusive phenomenon of leader charisma (Simonton 1988c;House et al 1991;O'Connor et al 1995;Deluga 1997Deluga , 1998. Other investigators have tried to determine the relative influence of individual and situational factors, a contemporary manifestation of the classic Great Person versus Zeitgeist controversy (Simonton 1984b, Ballard & Suedfeld 1988). Some of these latter inquiries have even tested individual × situation interaction effects to detect whether effective leadership demands "the right person at the right place and right time" (e.g., Simonton 1987, Winter 1987b.…”

Section: Social Psychologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Qualitative and Quantitative Analyses of Historical Data

Simonton

2003

Annu. Rev. Psychol.

102

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Although the typical study in psychology involves the quantitative analysis of contemporary research participants, occasionally psychologists will study historical persons or events. Moreover, these historical data may be analyzed using either qualitative or quantitative techniques. After giving examples from the subdisciplines of cognitive, developmental, differential, abnormal, and social psychology, the distinctive methodological features of this approach are outlined. These include both data collection (sampling, unit definition, etc.) and data analysis (both qualitative and quantitative). The discussion then turns to the advantages and disadvantages of this research method. The article closes by presenting the reasons why (a) psychologists will probably continue to use historical data and (b) quantitative analyses may eventually replace qualitative analyses in such applications.

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Performance Ratings of Canadian Prime Ministers: Individual and Situational Factors

Cited by 20 publications

References 14 publications

Significant samples: The psychological study of eminent individuals.

Significant samples: The psychological study of eminent individuals.

Rating 20^th-Century British Prime Ministers

Qualitative and Quantitative Analyses of Historical Data

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Performance Ratings of Canadian Prime Ministers: Individual and Situational Factors

Cited by 20 publications

References 14 publications

Significant samples: The psychological study of eminent individuals.

Significant samples: The psychological study of eminent individuals.

Rating 20th-Century British Prime Ministers

Qualitative and Quantitative Analyses of Historical Data

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

Rating 20^th-Century British Prime Ministers