R0007/2026-03-19/C001/SRC01
O'Boyle & Aguinis (2012) — The Best and the Rest
Source
| Field |
Value |
| Title |
THE BEST AND THE REST: REVISITING THE NORM OF NORMALITY OF INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE |
| Publisher |
Personnel Psychology (Wiley) |
| Author(s) |
Ernest O'Boyle Jr., Herman Aguinis |
| Date |
2012 |
| URL |
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1744-6570.2011.01239.x |
| Type |
Research paper |
Summary
| Dimension |
Rating |
| Reliability |
High |
| Relevance |
High |
| Bias: Missing data |
Low risk |
| Bias: Measurement |
Some concerns |
| Bias: Selective reporting |
Low risk |
| Bias: Randomization |
N/A — not an RCT |
| Bias: Protocol deviation |
N/A — not an RCT |
| Bias: COI/Funding |
Low risk |
Rationale
| Dimension |
Rationale |
| Reliability |
Published in a top-tier peer-reviewed journal (Personnel Psychology). Won Best Article award. Over 1,000 citations. |
| Relevance |
This is the primary source for the claim being verified. |
| Bias flags |
Measurement concerns noted by Beck et al. (2014) who argued measurement characteristics influence observed departures from normality. However, the core finding of non-normal distributions has been broadly replicated. |
| Evidence ID |
Summary |
| SRC01-E01 |
Study parameters: 5 studies, 198 samples, 633,263 individuals |
| SRC01-E02 |
Power-law (Paretian) distribution finding |
| SRC01-E03 |
Output concentration figures not found in secondary sources |