The pervasiveness and implications of statistical misconceptions among academics with a special interest in business research methods

Statistics play a very important role in business research, particularly in studies that choose to use quantitative or mixed methods. Alongside statistical analysis, aspects related to research design (such as sampling, reliability and validity issues) require a good grounding in statistical concepts reinforced by careful practice to avoid potential mistakes arising from statistical misconceptions. Although quite a considerable number of published studies have focused on students’ faulty thinking regarding statistical concepts, little research explores the extent to which these are also held by academics who are their instructors. This empirical study addresses this by answering the following questions: First, are statistical misconceptions pervasive among academics with a special interest in business research methods? If so, second, is there an association between the pervasiveness of statistical misconceptions and the preferred research tradition (qualitative, quantitative, mixed methods)? Data were collected via a web questionnaire from a purposive sample of academics with an expressed interest in business research methods. The questionnaire comprised 30 categorical statements (agree, disagree, don’t know) focusing on statistical misconceptions (and conceptions) relating to descriptive statistics, design strategies, inferential statistics and regression, and five demographic questions. We targeted a critical case purposive sample of 679 potential respondents. Although 166 consented to take part, only 80 completed the questionnaire and their responses form the basis of the statistical analysis, a response rate of 11.8 %. The study provides empirical evidence of both an absence of knowledge and a high pervasiveness of faulty notions that have infected the thinking of academics relating to both research design and the use of statistics. This is particularly so for academics who prefer quantitative methods, those preferring qualitative methods being more likely to admit that they do not know. The study argues that such lack of knowledge and misconceptions reduce the true utility of statistics in research. Recommendations are offered regarding the teaching of statistics within business research methods

On the experience of conducting a Systematic Review in Industrial, Work and Organizational Psychology: Yes it is Worthwhile

Systematic Review methodology (SRm) is an increasingly popular choice for literature reviews in the Social Sciences. While compared to traditional narrative reviews SRm appears time-consuming and laborious, transparency and replicability of the methodology is argued to facilitate greater clarity of review. Nevertheless, researchers in Industrial, Work, and Organizational (IWO) Psychology have yet to embrace this methodology. Drawing on experience from conducting a Systematic Review (SR) of individual workplace performance we explore the premise: The advantages of SRm to IWO Psychology researchers outweigh the disadvantages. We offer observations, insights, and potential solutions to challenges faced during the reviewing process, concluding that SRm is worthwhile for IWO Psychology researcher

A conceptual model for action and design research

Organizational research has a pattern of special characteristics which make a clear distinction from other research paradigms. When using these approaches – based on Action and Design – the Interpretivist, Constructivist, and Participatory perspectives dominate. They have already proven to have strong foundations, which turn these paradigmatic approaches into effective ways for getting knowledge, doing things, and promoting change within organizational settings. It combines the traditional scientific, engineering, and organization development approaches, depicting how an organization can, simultaneously, solve multidimensional problems and produce actionable knowledge, effective change and useful artifacts. It has been developed using a Design Science Research approach, tested in a major organizational change program (Henriques, 2015; Henriques & ONeill, 2014), and successfully used to teach research methods essentials to Master and DBA students.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Entry for "Gatekeeper"

Bringing together the work of over eighty leading academics and researchers worldwide to produce the definitive reference and research tool for the social ..

Entry for 'Organisational Research'

Bringing together the work of over eighty leading academics and researchers worldwide to produce the definitive reference and research tool for the social ..