Data Methods And Theory In The Organizational Sciences

Data, Methods and Theory in the Organizational Sciences

Data, Methods and Theory in the Organizational Sciences explores the long-term evolution and changing relationships between data, methods, and theory in the organizational sciences. In the last 50 years, theory has come to dominate research and scholarship in these fields, yet the emergence of big data, as well as the increasing use of archival data sets and meta-analytic methods to test empirical hypotheses, has upset this order. This volume examines the evolving relationship between data, methods, and theory and suggests new ways of thinking about the role of each in the development and presentation of research in organizations. This volume utilizes the latest thinking from experts in a wide range of fields on the topics of data, methods, and theory and uses this knowledge to explore the ways in which behavior in organizations has been studied. This volume also argues that the current focus on theory is both unhealthy for the field and unsustainable, and it provides more successful ways theory can be used to support and structure research, and demonstrates the most effective techniques for analyzing and making sense of data. This is an essential resource for researchers, professionals, and educators who are looking to rethink their current approaches to research, and who are interested in creating more useful and more interpretable research in the organizational sciences.

Data, Methods and Theory in the Organizational Sciences

Organizational Research Methods

`This text provides a timely and comprehensive introduction to major research methods in the Organizational sciences. It will be a boon to all students conducting their projects in this area, and may well become a standard reference for staff teaching research methods to undergraduate and postgraduate students of business studies or organizational behaviour′ - Professor Neil Anderson, Goldsmiths College, University of London ′This reasonably priced text would provide an invaluable starting point for those considering undertaking research in organisational settings′ - Paula Roberts, Nurse Researcher This book provides the reader with clear pointers for how to conduct organizational research appropriately, through planning and making informed and systematic research decisions, to understanding the ethical implications of applied organizational research, to implementing, reporting and presenting the findings to the highest possible standards. It provides an overview of a wide variety of research strategies, methods of data collection (both qualitative and quantitative) and analysis in a volume accessible to both an undergraduate, postgraduate and practitioner readership alike. Organizational Research Methods also represents a useful aid to the report writing task, indicating ways in which the project material can be most effectively organised for academic and feedback purposes, and by drawing upon real-life organizational contexts and examples to help the reader understand the core issues. Finally, the book offers a clear, manageable procedure for preparing a presentation to an academic or an organizational audience. Providing practical guidance on all elements of the research process, this book will be essential reading to all undergraduate and postgraduate students, as well as researchers, in psychology, organizational studies and management disciplines.