Although scientific research can be done in many ways, some often-used academic templates emphasize elaborate (yet difficult to validate) theories and a-priori empirical tests. But research is not confined only to academic ivory towers. Consultants and practitioners engage in research as well and may do so in a less conventional manner. In this article, I discuss how analytics (the scientific process of transforming data into insight to make better decisions) sidesteps some theory- and methods-related issues. I also speculate on how analytics may catalyze what some see as a stagnant, constricted, way of “doing science.”
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