Researchers have suggested that marginal comments from study participants contain important information that is often overlooked. We analyze survey data from a seven-wave longitudinal study of personality development over 40 years. Our aims included: creating a typology of marginal comments; assessing whether individual differences play a role; and identifying implications of ignoring marginalia. Marginalia included direct critique of question wording; indirect critique, often adding clarification and context; and broader comments about the study. Individual differences, including the trait of conscientiousness, played a modest role in the tendency to leave marginalia. We conclude that marginalia are common and deserve researchers’ systematic attention, if we are to avoid threats to data validity. We suggest several research practices that might help.

研究人员建议，研究参与者的边缘评论包含经常被忽视的重要信息。我们分析了 40 年来人格发展的七波纵向研究的调查数据。我们的目标包括：创建边缘评论类型；评估个体差异是否起作用；并确定忽略边缘化的影响。边际包括对问题措辞的直接批评；间接批评，通常增加说明和背景；以及对该研究的更广泛评论。个体差异，包括责任心的特质，在离开边缘的倾向中发挥了适度的作用。我们得出结论，如果我们要避免对数据有效性的威胁，边缘化是常见的，值得研究人员系统地关注。