Theoretical Corpus for an Empirical Subject The Identification of Problems and Gaps in Pygmalion Effect Research

Abstract

Theoretical corpus or body refers to the theory gathered on an issue, topic or subject. Despite having generalisable findings on the theoretical corpus and the scientific work with it daily in all disciplines, there is a lack of guidance on how to build it up. Therefore, the research objective was to provide a methodological perspective on its construction through an empirical subject with the aim of identifying the problems and gaps within the corpus. As case study, the Pygmalion effect at work was chosen, since it was a complex phenomenon with a long, extensive and intensive research history. Five steps were implemented to follow: text database, literature review technique(s), corpus overview, theoretical corpus, research problems and gaps. For the chosen subject, the methodological review technique was applied, that helped to identify six research problems and gaps (i.e. availability, trust, harm, research objects, settings, naturalness) on the angles of phenomenon limitations and ethical questions. As a response to these, it presented the author’s own arguments and claims that led the trajectory of the paper. Parallel to the case study, the research in experimental psychology was also introduced for better understanding. Finally, the paper gave methodological suggestions on how to construct a theoretical corpus in general. Keywords: methodological review, Pygmalion affect, research problem, research gap, theoretical corpus