This paper is based on my experience as a doctoral student at the Manchester Business School. In many such institutions, research tends to be based on a positivist epistemology. Using two examples from the literature, I suggest that use of the 'scientific method' may not be appropriate for natural science and, therefore, may be even more problematic for social science. Nevertheless, researchers in business and management schools may find that they are encouraged to adopt methodologies with which they are uneasy. In the later sections of the paper I describe the difficulties I faced in developing an adequate theoretical and methodological structure for my own PhD. The paper warns of the dangers inherent in selecting theories 'off-the-shelf and encourages those engaged in doctoral research to return to first principles in developing their own conceptual frameworks.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Barrar, P. and Sullivan, T. (1987) 'Employment Adjustment in Recession Bargaining: A Wire Industry Study', Employee Relations10(1): 22-31.
2.
Beynon, H. (1973) Working for Ford. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
3.
Bhaskar, R. (1979) The Possibility of Naturalism. Brighton: Harvester.
4.
Braverman, H. (1974) Labour and Monopoly Capitalism. New York: Monthly Review Press.
5.
Bryman, A. (1988) Doing Research in Organisations. London: Routledge.
6.
Burrell, G. (1988) 'Modernism, Postmodernism and Organizational Analysis 2: The Contribution of Michel Foucault', Organization Studies9(2): 221-235.
7.
Burrell, G. and Morgan, G. (1979) Sociological Paradigms and Organisational Analysis. Aldershot: Gower.
8.
Cohen, R. and Wartofsky, M. (1983) Epistemology, Methodology, and the Social Sciences. Dordrecht: Reidel.
9.
Cooper, R. (1989) 'Modernism, Postmodernism and Analysis: The Contribution of Jacques Derrida', Organization Studies10(4): 479-502.
10.
Daft, R. L. (1983) 'Learning the Craft of Organizational Research', Academy of Management Journal8(4): 539-546.
11.
Davis-Blake, A. and Pfeffer, J. (1989) 'Just a Mirage: The Search for Dispositional Effects in Organizational Research', Academy of Management Review14(3): 385-400.
12.
Donaldson, L. (1989) 'A Review of Redirections in Organisational Analysis', Australian Journal of Management14(2): 245-254.
13.
Easterby-Smith, M. , Thorpe, R. and Lowe, A. (1991) Management Research: An Introduction. London: Sage.
14.
Feyerabend, P. (1975) Against Method. London: NLB.
15.
Feyerabend, P. (1981) Realism, Rationalism and Scientific Method. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
16.
Gilbert, G. N. and Mulkay, M. (1980) 'Contexts of Scientific Discourse: Social Accounting in Experimental Papers', in K. Knorr, R. Krohn and R. Whitley (eds) The Social Process of Scientific Investigation. Dordrecht: Reidel.
17.
Gilbert, G. N. and Mulkay, M. (1984) Opening Pandora's Box: A Sociological Analysis of Scientists' Discourse. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
18.
Gill, J. and Johnson, P. (1991) Research Methods for Managers. Liverpool: Chapman.
19.
Glaser, B. and Strauss, A. (1967) The Discovery of Grounded Theory. Chicago, IL: Aldine.
20.
Habermas, J. (1972) Knowledge and Human Interest. London: Heinemann.
21.
Hassard, J. and Pym, D., eds (1990) The Theory and Philosophy of Organizations. London: Routledge.
22.
Jones, O. E. (1992) 'The Determinants of Departmental Reputation: A Study of R&D Scientists', unpublished PhD thesis, Manchester Business School.
23.
Jones, O. E. and Sullivan, T. (1994) 'Establishing the Determinants of Departmental Reputation: The Case of R&D Scientists', R&D Management24(4): 325-339.
24.
Kuhn, T. S. (1970) The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, 2nd edn. Chicago, IL: Chicago University Press.
25.
Latour, B. and Woolmar, S. W. (1979) Laboratory Life: The Social Construction of Scientific Facts. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
26.
Lincoln, Y. S. and Guba, G. (1986) Naturalistic Inquiry. London: Sage.
27.
Martin, J. (1990) 'Breaking up the Mono-Method Monopolies in Organizational Analysis', in J. Hassard and D. Pym (eds) The Theory and Philosophy of Organizations. London: Routledge.
28.
Maslow, A. (1954) Motivation and Personality. New York: Harper.
29.
Masterman, M. (1974) 'The Nature of a Paradigm', in I. Lakatos and A. Musgrave (eds) Criticism and the Growth of Knowledge. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
30.
McAulay, R. (1979) 'Velikovsky and the Infrastructure of Science: The Metaphysics of a Close Encounter', Theory and Science6(3): 313-342.
31.
Miller, D. B. (1986) Managing Professionals in Research and Development. San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass.
32.
Morgan, G. (1983) Beyond Method. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
33.
Morgan, G. (1990) 'Paradigm Diversity in Organizational Research', in J. Hassard and D. Pym (eds) The Theory and Philosophy of Organizations. London: Routledge.
34.
Mulkay, M. (1972) The Social Process of Innovation: A Study in the Sociology of Science. London: Macmillan.
35.
Popper, K. (1972) Conjectures and Refutations: The Growth of Scientific Knowledge, 4th edn. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
36.
Popper, K. (1975) The Logic of Scientific Discovery. London: Hutchinson.
37.
Potter, J. and Wetherell, M. (1987) Discourse and Social Psychology: Beyond Attitudes and Behaviour. London: Sage.
38.
Pugh, D. S. , Hickson, D. J., Hinings, C. R. and Turner, C. (1969) 'The Context of Organisational Structure', Administrative Science Quarterly14(1): 91-114.
39.
Reed, M. (1985) Redirections in Organizational Analysis. London: Tavistock.
40.
Reed, M. (1989) 'Deciphering Donaldson and Defending Organisation Theory: A Reply to Lex Donaldson's Review of "Redirections in Organisational Analysis"', Australian Journal of Management14(2): 255-260.
41.
Reed, M. (1992) The Sociology of Organisations: Themes, Perspectives and Prospects. New York: Harvester/Wheatsheaf.
42.
Salancik, G. R. and Pfeffer, J. (1978) 'A Social Information Process Approach to Job Attitudes and Task Design', Administrative Science Quarterly23(2): 224-253.
43.
Scheffler, I. (1967) Science and Subjectivity. New York: Bobs-Merrill.
44.
Silverman, D. (1970) The Theory of Organisations. London: Heinemann.
45.
Silverman, D. (1985) Qualitative Methodology and Sociology. Aldershot: Gower.
46.
Silverman, D. (1993) Interpreting Qualitative Data: Methods for Analysing Talk, Text and Interaction. London: Sage.
47.
Staw, B. M. , Bell, N. and Clausen, J. (1986) 'The Dispositional Approach to Job Attitudes: A Lifetime Longitudinal Test', Administrative Science Quarterly31(1): 56-77.
48.
Sullivan, T. and Hogge, B. (1987) 'Instruments of Adjustment in Recession: The Case of R&D Personnel', R&D Management17(4): 289-299.
49.
Trigg, R. (1985) Understanding Social Science. Oxford: Blackwell.
50.
Watson, J. (1968) The Double Helix. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
51.
Weber, M. (1947) The Theory of Social and Economic Organization. Glencoe, IL: Free Press.
52.
Whitley, R. (1984) 'The Scientific Status of Management Research as a Practically-Oriented Social Science', Journal of Management Studies21(4): 369-389.
53.
Willmott, H. (1990) 'Beyond Paradigmatic Closure in Organizational Enquiry', in J. Hassard and D. Pym (eds) The Theory and Philosophy of Organizations. London: Routledge.
54.
Winch, P. (1958) The Idea of a Social Science and its Relation to Philosophy. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
