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ERIC Number: EJ1019388
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2013-Nov
Pages: 18
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1932-202X
EISSN: N/A
Are There More Gifted People Than Would Be Expected in a Normal Distribution? An Investigation of the Overabundance Hypothesis
Warne, Russell T.; Godwin, Lindsey R.; Smith, Kyle V.
Journal of Advanced Academics, v24 n4 p224-241 Nov 2013
Among some gifted education researchers, advocates, and practitioners, it is sometimes believed that there is a larger number of gifted people in the general population than would be predicted from a normal distribution (e.g., Gallagher, 2008; N. M. Robinson, Zigler, & Gallagher, 2000; Silverman, 1995, 2009), a belief that we termed the "overabundance hypothesis." We tested this hypothesis by searching public datasets and the published literature for large representative datasets, 10 of which were found in 6 sources. Results indicated that the overabundance hypothesis was mostly unsupported by the data. Moreover, most datasets included approximately the same (or fewer) gifted individuals than would be predicted from a normal distribution. We conclude the article by exploring the theoretical reasons why the overabundance is likely untrue and why some might believe otherwise.
SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: http://sagepub.com
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Information Analyses; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Netherlands; United Kingdom (Scotland); United States
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A