Measurement and statistics in 'Organization Science': Philosophical, sociological and historical perspectives

Michael Zyphur, Dean Pierides, Jon Roffe

Research output: Chapter in Book/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

Abstract

Measurement and statistical practices are ubiquitous across many areas of organization research. For example, in 2012 the Academy of Management Journal had an average of 89 p-values 1 in each article (Gigerenzer and Marewski, 2015). Given this prevalence, it is unfortunate that measurement and statistics are usually deployed in ways that ignore their social and material character, instead directing attention to abstract concepts like ‘validity’, ‘truth’, and ‘objectivity’. By focusing on such concepts, researchers remain wedded to unexamined foundational assumptions with origins in now-antiquated seventeenth century philosophy (see Shapin, 1994, 1996, 2010; Williams, 2005). It is, therefore, unsurprising that existing approaches to measurement and statistics cause problems in contemporary contexts wherein these foundations are difficult to maintain.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationThe Routledge Companion to Philosophy in Organization Studies
EditorsRaza Mir, Hugh Willmott, Michelle Greenwood
PublisherRoutledge
Pages474-482
Number of pages9
ISBN (Electronic)9780203795248
ISBN (Print)9780415702867
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2015

Publication series

NameRoutledge Companions in Business, Management and Accounting
PublisherRoutledge

Keywords

  • Organization science
  • Organization Studies
  • Measurement
  • Statistics
  • Philosophy
  • Pragmatism

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