Data, Methods, and Theory in the Organizational Sciences: A New Synthesis

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.

Kevin R. Murphy is Professor Emeritus at the University of Limerick, Ireland. He is a former SIOP President and Editor of the Journal of Applied Psychology, and has been published in areas ranging from performance appraisal and psychometrics to honesty in the workplace.