Discipline research is largely concerned with absenteeism. A less well-known yet more technically challenging strand of literature asks an interesting and more constructive question. What do people actually accomplish in the hours that they have committed to developing a particular skill? That second question actually yields a hardly surprising answer that is both very specific and particularly more controversial.
I. The Violinists Who Redefined Expertise
In 1993, Anders Ericsson and his colleagues published a study that changed how people thought about skill and influenced a generation. Along with the Music Academy of West Berlin, they recruited three groups of violin students: an elite group who alone among faculty would likely become famous soloists; a solid group who would most likely have successful, but less distinguished, careers; and a group headed toward music education. A fourth group of professional violinists (mature amateurs) was recruited to test how the pattern among the students might be apparent for adults who have had a career with the violin.