Exemplar Methodology's First Question: How Do We Identify Moral Exemplars?

• In Event: Roundtable Session 41
  In Roundtable Session: Issues in Assessment and Definition of Goals of Moral Education

Abstract

Since Colby and Damon (1992) introduced exemplar methodology, several subsequent studies of moral exemplarity have been conducted and other researchers have refined the approach. Yet, the field has adopted few norms to guide exemplar research. The design of exemplar studies is deceptively simple - identify two groups, one with exemplary moral functioning and another with standard moral functioning, and look for between-group differences on a variable of interest. And yet, all of these studies begin with the same vexing question - how do you identify moral exemplars? The purpose of this paper is to analyze three different methodological approaches to identifying exemplars, discuss the relative merits of each, and offer some practical suggestions to guide research using exemplar methodology.

Author

• Ashley Floyd Kuntz, The University of Alabama - Birmingham