Peter C. M. Molenaar - Böcker

All psychological processes—like biological and social ones—are dynamic. Phenomena of nature, society, and the human psyche are context bound, constantly changing, and variable. This feature of reality is often not recognized in the social sciences where we operate with averaged data and with homogeneous stereotypes, and consider our consistency to be the cornerstone of rational being. Yet we are all inconsistent in our actions within a day, or from, one day to the next, and much of such inconsistency is of positive value for our survival and development. Our inconsistent behaviors and thoughts may appear chaotic, yet there is generality within this highly variable dynamic.The task of scientific methodologies—qualitative and quantitative—is to find out what that generality is. It is the aim of this handbook to bring into one framework various directions of construction of methodology of the dynamic processes that exist in the social sciences at the beginning of the 21st century. This handbook is set up to bring together pertinent methodological scholarship from all over the world, and equally from the quantitative and qualitative orientations to methodology. In addition to consolidating the pertinent knowledge base for the purposes of its further growth, this book serves the major educational role of bringing practitioners—students, researchers, and professionals interested in applications—the state of the art know-how about how to think about extracting evidence from single cases, and about the formal mathematical-statistical tools to use for these purposes.

This book focuses on a span of statistical topics relevant to researchers who seek to conduct person-specific analysis of human data. Our purpose is to provide one consolidated resource that includes techniques from disciplines such as engineering, physics, statistics, and quantitative psychology and outlines their application to data often seen in human research. The book balances mathematical concepts with information needed for using these statistical approaches in applied settings, such as interpretative caveats and issues to consider when selecting an approach.The statistical topics covered here include foundational material as well as state-of-the-art methods. These analytic approaches can be applied to a range of data types such as psychophysiological, self-report, and passively collected measures such as those obtained from smartphones. We provide examples using varied data sources including functional MRI (fMRI), daily diary, and ecological momentary assessment data.Features:Description of time series, measurement, model building, and network methods for person-specific analysisDiscussion of the statistical methods in the context of human researchEmpirical and simulated data examples used throughout the bookR code for analyses and recorded lectures for each chapter available at the book website: https://www.personspecific.com/ Across various disciplines of human study, researchers are increasingly seeking to conduct person-specific analysis. This book provides comprehensive information, so no prior knowledge of these methods is required. We aim to reach active researchers who already have some understanding of basic statistical testing. Our book provides a comprehensive resource for those who are just beginning to learn about person-specific analysis as well as those who already conduct such analysis but seek to further deepen their knowledge and learn new tools.

All psychological processes—like biological and social ones—are dynamic. Phenomena of nature, society, and the human psyche are context bound, constantly changing, and variable. This feature of reality is often not recognized in the social sciences where we operate with averaged data and with homogeneous stereotypes, and consider our consistency to be the cornerstone of rational being. Yet we are all inconsistent in our actions within a day, or from, one day to the next, and much of such inconsistency is of positive value for our survival and development. Our inconsistent behaviors and thoughts may appear chaotic, yet there is generality within this highly variable dynamic.The task of scientific methodologies—qualitative and quantitative—is to find out what that generality is. It is the aim of this handbook to bring into one framework various directions of construction of methodology of the dynamic processes that exist in the social sciences at the beginning of the 21st century. This handbook is set up to bring together pertinent methodological scholarship from all over the world, and equally from the quantitative and qualitative orientations to methodology. In addition to consolidating the pertinent knowledge base for the purposes of its further growth, this book serves the major educational role of bringing practitioners—students, researchers, and professionals interested in applications—the state of the art know-how about how to think about extracting evidence from single cases, and about the formal mathematical-statistical tools to use for these purposes.