methodological fit
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METHODOLOGICAL FIT IN MANAGEMENT
FIELD RESEARCH
Rashid ShafiqFarooq Ahmad
By AMY C. EdmondsonStacy E. Mcmanus
Origin, history and evolution The authors of this article
AMY C. EDMONDSON & STACY E. MCMANUS Harvard Business School Monitor Executive Development
Edmondson received her PhD in organizational behavior
AMY C. EDMONDSON is a Professor of Leadership and Management Co-Unit Head, Technology and Operations Management Unit at Harvard Business School
Edmondson joined the Harvard faculty in 1996.
Her research examines leadership influences on learning, collaboration and innovation in teams and organizations
Over 50 articles published in academic journals, management periodicals, and books.
Contd.. In 2003, the Academy of Management's Organizational
Behavior Division selected Professor Edmondson for the Cummings Award for outstanding achievement in early mid-career, and in 2000 selected her article, "Psychological safety and learning behavior in work teams," for its annual award for the best published paper in the field.
Her article (with Anita Tucker), "Why Hospitals Don't Learn from Failures: Organizational and Psychological Dynamics That Inhibit System Change" received the 2004 Accenture Award for a significant contribution to management practice.
Professor Edmondson teaches MBA and Executive Education
courses in leadership, team decision making, and organizational learning, and a doctoral course in field research methods.
She has served on 18 doctoral committees and is the author of twenty HBS teaching cases, including leadership cases on The Cleveland Clinic, General Motors Power train, Prudential Financial, Simmons Mattress Company, YUM brands, IDEO product design, and NASA's failed Columbia mission.
Contd..
This article was published in Academy of Management Review on 2007
The main purpose of this article is to provide guidelines for helping new field researchers develop and sharpen their ability to align theory and methods in field research as well as
Author also suggest that methodological fit in field research is created through an iterative learning process that requires a mindset in which feedback, rethinking, and revising are embraced as valued activities, and to discuss the implications of this for educating new field researchers.
Methodological fit has deep roots in organizational research
Contd.. In 1976, Bouchard focused on how to implement research
techniques such as Interviews, Questionnaires and Observation, noted,
“The key to good research lies not in choosing the right
method, but rather in asking the right question and picking
the most powerful method for answering that particular
question”
Author has pointed out the issue in this article about the appropriateness of combining qualitative and quantitative methods within a single research project. Discussion is that whether qualitative and quantitative methods investigate the same phenomena,
Contd..
are philosophically consistent, and are paradigms that can reasonably be integrated within a study. Author propose that the two methods can be combined successfully in cases where the goal is to increase validity of new measures through triangulation (a process by which the same phenomenon is assessed with different methods to determine whether convergence across methods exists).
Theory, Model and Research type
In this Article Author introduces a framework for assessing and promoting methodological fit as an overarching criterion for ensuring quality field research
Methodological fit promotes the development of accurate and required field research
Author define Methodological fit as internal consistency among elements of research project
Research Question
Prior WorkResearch DesignContribution to literature
Contd..
Model presented in this Article
Research question
Prior Work
Research design
Contribution to Literature
Methodological Fit
Four Key Elements of a Field Research Project
Element Description
Research question
Focuses A study Narrows the topic area to meaningful, manageable size Addresses issues of theoretical and practical significance Points toward a variable research project – that is, the question can be answered
Prior work The State of the literature Existing theoretical and empirical research papers that pertain to the topic of the
current study An aid in identifying unanswered questions, unexplored areas, relevant constructs,
and areas of low agreement
Research design
Type of data to be collected Data collection tools and procedures Type of analysis planned Finding/selection of sites for collecting data
Contribution to literature
The theory developed as an outcome of the study New ideas that contest conventional wisdom, challenge prior assumptions,
integrate prior streams of research to produce a new mode, or refine
understanding of a phenomenon Any practical insights drawn from the findings that may be suggested by the
researcher
Contd..
Three Levels of Prior Work
Intermediate Mature Nascent
Intermediate
In intermediate level hybrid methodological approach is used
Mature
correspond to quantitative methodological approach
Nascent
correspond to qualitative methodological approach
Contd..Parameters for Methodological Fit
State of Prior Theory & Research
Intermediate Mature Nascent
Research questions
Proposed relationships between new & establish constructs
Focused questions and/or hypotheses relating existing constructs
Open-ended inquiry about a phenomenon of interest
Type of data collected
Hybrid Quantitative Qualitative, initially open-ended data that need to be interpreted for meaning
Illustrative methods for collecting data
Interviews;
observations;
Surveys; …
Surveys; interviews or observation …….
Interviews;
observations;
obtaining other documents …
Constructs & measures
Typically one or more new constructs and/or new measures
Typically relying heavily on existing constructs & measures
Typically new construct, few formal measures
Goal of data analyses
Preliminary or exploratory testing of new constructs
Formal hypothesis testing Pattern identification
Data analysis methods
Content analysis, exploratory statistics & …..
Statistical inference, standard statistical analyses
Thematic content analysis coding for evidence of constructs
Theoretical contribution
A provisional theory
A supported theory A suggestive theory,
Contd..Traditional Implicit View of the Field Research Process
Identify target area of interest
Read the literature
Develop Research question
Design a study
Collect & analyze data
Write up results
Publish
Founders, Proponents and Critics
Founder Proponents Critics
Amy C. Edmondson
Stacy E. Mcmanus
Jim Detert
Robin Ely
David Ager
Richard Hockman
Connie Hadley
Bertrand Moingeon
Wendy Smith
Terrence Mitchell
Contd..
Terrence Mitchell Masters and Ph.D. from Illinois in 1969 in organizational psychology.
He has been at the University of Washington since 1969 and became the Carlson Professor of Management in 1987, a position he still holds (renewed four times). The Carlson Professorship is one of the largest and most prestigious professorships awarded by School.
He is also a Professor of Psychology at the University of Washington.
Over the past 30 years he has published over 100 journal articles
He has won THE University of Washington Business School’s s Best Researcher award three times, most recently in 2005.
Proposed Model
.
Nature of Study
QualitativeQuantitative
Selection of Appropriate data Collection Methods
InterviewsQuestionnaire Observations
Independent Variable Dependent Variable
Variables & Methodology
Variables
Independent Variable
Nature of Study (Quantitative / Qualitative)
Dependent Variable
Selection of Appropriate Data collection method (Questionnaire, Interviews, Observations)
MethodologyLiterature review