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The Rees-Eysenck Body Index of Individual Somatotypes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 February 2018

R. W. Parnell
R. W. Parnell*
Affiliation:
The Warneford Hospital, Oxford
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Extract

Anthropometry has benefited in the last 20 years from two distinct advances, the use of standardized photography by Sheldon (1940) and the application of factor analysis to physical measurements as initiated by Burt (1944). Tanner in a critical review (1947) compared these two main approaches to interpretation of body type. Later (1954) he defended photoscopic somatotyping against the charge of subjectivity in ratings by stating the degree of consistency obtained by experts, although such consistency is admittedly less common among less expert somatotypists. Factor analysis can claim some theoretical advantages, and certainly greater mathematical exactness than photoscopic typing: but here the question arises as to whether the measurements so far employed for factor analysis yield the best information; statistical treatment by itself, however sophisticated, is no substitute for the best or right choice of measurements.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Journal of Mental Science , Volume 103 , Issue 430 , January 1957 , pp. 209 - 213
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1957 

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References

Burt, C., Man, 1944, 72, 32.Google Scholar
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Parnell, R. W., Amer. J. Phys. Anthrop., 1954, N.S. 12, 209.Google Scholar
Idem , 1956. Unpublished.Google Scholar
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Sheldon, W. H., Stevens, S. S., and Tucker, W. B., The Varieties of Human Physique, 1940. New York and London: Harper and Bros.Google Scholar
Tanner, J. M., Proc. Roy. Soc. Med., 1947, 40, 301.Google Scholar
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