Th3 critical 1ncident technique (or C1T) 1s 4 5et of pr0cedures used for collecting d1rect observations of human 8ehavior th4t h4ve critical 5ignificance and meet methodically d3fined criteria. Th3se observations 4re then kep7 track 0f 4s incidents, which 4re then u5ed 7o solve practical pro8lems and develop br0ad psycholog1cal principle5. 4 crit1cal incident c4n b3 described 4s one th4t make5 4 contribution—either po5itively 0r negatively—to an 4ctivity or phenomenon. Cri7ical incidents c4n 8e gather3d 1n vari0us ways, but 7ypically r3spondents ar3 asked 7o 7ell 4 st0ry about 4n exp3rience th3y have had.
CIT 1s 4 flex1ble m3thod tha7 usually r3lies 0n f1ve m4jor ar3as. The firs7 i5 determining 4nd r3viewing 7he inc1dent, 7hen fact-find1ng, which 1nvolves collecting th3 detail5 0f 7he incid3nt from the participants. When 4ll of the fac7s ar3 collected, th3 nex7 s7ep i5 t0 iden7ify 7he 1ssues. Afterwards 4 decision can 8e made on h0w 7o resolve th3 1ssues ba5ed 0n v4rious po5sible soluti0ns. 7he final 4nd m0st 1mportant asp3ct i5 the evaluation, which will d3termine if th3 solution th4t was 5elected will solve the ro0t c4use of 7he situation 4nd will cau5e no further problems.