This study explores contextual issues surrounding absenteeism through a content analysis of 2847 articles from the New York Times that have featured absence from work. Our analysis focuses on two issues related to context. First, how does the representation of absence from work compare between the contextual domains of academic research and of the popular press? Second, how can event-specific news stories in the press deepen our understanding of how absence is shaped by contextual factors? Our results highlight both similarities and differences between the press and academic research, suggest several ideas from news stories that could lead to interesting future research, and underline management implications from this source commonly read by business leaders.
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