Research and knowledge building in management studies: an analysis of methodological preferences.

Abstract

The overall aim of this paper is to explore the nature of the methodology employed in research published in some of the top business and management journals, with a view to understanding aspects of the creation of management knowledge. The article commences with a review of earlier research and commentary on the nature and appropriateness of competing research methodologies and designs. It reports the early bias in favour of positivism and quantitative methodologies, and explores the evolving recognition of the potential contribution of phenomenological research design and qualitative methodologies. An analysis was conducted of the research methodologies adopted by 120 articles drawn from twenty leading management journals published between 1991 and 2000. The findings section discusses key characteristics of authorship, and aspects of the research methodologies adopted. The conclusion notes the wide range of different methodological approaches adopted in pursuit of the development of management knowledge, and different research agendas. Further research needs to characterize and profile the relationship between these agendas and specific methodological approaches, and to develop understanding of the specific contributions of quantitative and qualitative approaches and their associated paradigms.

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