Werner W. Wittmann

Recent strong commitment in the context of outpatient psychotherapeutic care research currently under development, together with Wolfgang Lutz head of the so-called TK project on behalf of the Techniker Krankenkasse (TK) and together with Bernhard Strauss head of the pilot study QS-PSY-BAY on behalf of the kassenärztlichen Vereinigung Bayern (Wittmann et al. 2012 etc.) Brunswik symmetry as a key concept of successful psychological research: studies on the relationship between working memory and intelligence, intelligence and complex problem solving, intelligence and school grades, and on the predictive validity of personality traits (extraversion, introversion).

Werner Wittmann's integrative thinking made him a pioneer of evaluation research in Germany, opened up new perspectives for solving fundamental challenges of translational research methodology, and made him a pioneer of evidence-based decisions in health care. In recognition of his contributions to evaluation research, Werner Wittmann received the 2005 F. Lazarsfeld Award for Evaluation Theory from the American Evaluation Association.

The central focus of Werner Wittmann's research and scientific theory is on considerations of a multivariate reliabilitys and validity theory (esp. Wittmann, 1985, 1988). It was proposed as a possible solution to the general covariation problem described by Jochen Fahrenberg (Fahrenberg, 1982) of the multi-method approach in psychological diagnostics (so-called Multitrait-Multimethod-MTMM-Approach). The core is the model of the 4, later 5 data boxes (Five-Box-Model, Wittmann, 1990), a model for the conception, execution and evaluation of evaluation studies, which was mainly used in rehabilitation and intelligence research. It is based on Cattell's data box BDRM Basic Data Relation Matrix (Raymond Cattell, 1966) and Brunswik's lens model (Brunswik, 1956). In addition to the five related data boxes, the main determinants are the symmetry principle and the principle of data aggregation.

Werner W. Wittmann grew up in Nuremberg, where he completed his Abitur in 1964. He studied psychology at the University of Freiburg (Diploma degree 1972) and received his doctorate in 1977 with a thesis on factor-analytical models, methodological studies and problems of reproducibility. In his habilitation in 1984, he dealt with the topic of evaluation research, which was published in 1985 as a book by Springer-Verlag. From 1973 to 1984 Werner W. Wittmann was a scientific assistant at the Psychological Institute of the University of Freiburg at the chair of Personality Psychology (Jochen Fahrenberg), where he was appointed to a temporary professorship with a focus on methodology in 1984. From 1988 to 1993 he was a C2 professor at the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences of the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg and from 1993 to his retirement in 2009 he held the chair of Psychology II, Methods, Diagnostics and Evaluation at the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Mannheim. His interest in collaborative research projects, teaching and international exchange led to several visiting professorships, among others at the universities Heidelberg, Berlin. (FU), Bern, Fribourg (Switzerland), Vienna and San Diego (SDSU). From 2006 to 2009 Werner Wittmann was head of the Otto-Selz-Institute at the University of Mannheim and subsequently became head of a department for evaluation, diagnostics and methods at the same institute. Werner W. Wittmann is/was member of the editorial board of several scientific journals, among others. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, Zeitschrift für Personalpsychologie, Diagnostica, Applied Measurement und Praxis Klinische Verhaltensmedizin und Rehabilitation.

Werner W. Wittmann (born 11 January 1944) is a German psychologist, evaluation researcher and research methodologist.