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Most researchers in organization and management studies stick to two or three traditional research methods like surveys and interviews. Sticking with the familiar is seen as a safe bet, and innovation is discouraged by academic incentives and rewards. But research participants are now suffering from 'survey fatigue', and using the same old methods runs the risk of generating the same old findings.
This book describes twelve unconventional methodologies in organization and management research. These include unconventional research settings and data sources, unconventional research designs and data collection methods, unconventional analytic approaches, and designs and methods that exploit new technology developments. The aim is to encourage dialogue and experimentation with regard to the development of innovative, unconventional approaches to organization and management research. Several commentators have criticized the way in which research methods have become more formulaic, and have argued for greater diversity in research approaches. The methodological perspective that the we adopt shapes our interpretation of the information that we gather. Different methods generate different kinds of information, leading to different ways of understanding the phenomena that we are investigating. Our methods influence our styles of theorizing, ways of thinking and reasoning, and forms of writing and reporting research.
This book will be of value to academic researchers in organization and management studies, Doctoral candidates, and Masters students on MBA and similar programmes.
List of contents
- 1: David A. Buchanan and Alan Bryman: 'Not Another Survey': The Value of Unconventional Methods
- Part 1 Unconventional settings and data sources
- 2: Laurie Cohen and Joanne Duberley: Desert Island Data: Using BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs in Organization and Management Research
- 3: Robin Holt and Mike Zundel: Using Fiction in Organization and Management Research
- 4: Andrew Knight: Innovations in Unobtrusive Methods
- 5: David A. Buchanan and David Denyer: Research in Extreme Contexts
- 6: Christopher J. Schneider: Making the Case: A Qualitative Approach to Studying Social Media Documents
- Part 2: Unconventional Research Design and Data Collection Methods
- 7: Robert Kozinets and Manuela Nocker: Netnography: Engaging with the Challenges
- 8: Alex Bitektine, Jeffrey W. Lucas, and Oliver Schilke: Institutions Under A Microscope: Experimental Methods in Institutional Theory
- 9: Steve Kempster and Ken Parry: Beyond One Voice: Co-Constructed Analytic Auto-Ethnography
- 10: Rebecca Whiting, Helen Roby, Gillian Symon, and Petros Chamakiotis: Participant-Led Video Diaries
- 11: Olivier Berthod, Michael Grothe-Hammer, and Jörg Sydow: Inter-Organizational Ethnography: Promises and Pitfalls
- Part 3 Unconventional Analytic Approaches
- 12: Paul Carlile And Karl-Emanuel Dionne: Unconventional Yet Consequential: Using A Sociomaterial Approach To Drive Impact in Organization Studies Research
- 13: Jörg Sydow, Arnold Windeler, Gordon Müller-Seitz And Knut Lange: Path Constitution Analysis: A Methodology For Understanding Path Dependence and Path Creation
- 14: Alan Bryman And David A. Buchanan: Methodology Matters
About the author
Alan Bryman is Emeritus Professor of Organizational and Social Research at the University of Leicester School of Business, UK. His research interests focus on methodology, leadership, organizational analysis, Disneyization, and theme parks. He has published on social and organizational research methods, including two leading textbooks (Social Research Methods, and Business Research Methods) which have been translated into numerous other languages, and he has a specific interest in leadership in higher education.
David Buchanan is Emeritus Professor of Organizational Behaviour at Cranfield University School of Management, UK. His research interests lie with change management and organization politics. He is co-author of a leading text in organizational behaviour, and co-editor with Alan Bryman of The Sage Handbook of Organizational Research Methods (2009). Current projects include studies of change in healthcare, post-crisis change, and the implications of new technology for the role of the HR function.
Summary
Most researchers in organization and management studies keep to the same traditional research methods-like surveys and interviews. But research participants are now suffering from 'survey fatigue', and using the same old methods runs the risk of generating the same findings. This book encourages the development of unconventional methodologies.
Additional text
At a time it is common to bemoan research which is rather boring this stimulating book conceived by Alan Bryman and David Buchanan points out that methods matter and that most researchers use a limited range of conventional approaches which affects what they see and how they see it. Furthermore researchers' methodological perspective also shapes their interpretation of the research. They point the way forward for more adventurous research with unconventional approaches to methodology including unconventional settings, unconventional research design and data collection, and unconventional analytic approaches.
