Methodologies for the study of organizational behavior processes: How to find your keys in the dark

Abstract

Summary The field of organizational behavior is very much concerned with process—the temporal sequence by which conditions, events, and states unfold. Such processes are implied in tests of mediation and more complex causal chains. The popular approach of analyzing data from cross‐sectional designs with complex statistics is not particularly helpful in understanding process. The optimal way to investigate process involves the proper use of a combination of qualitative and quantitative, experimental and nonexperimental methods that allow us to assess variables in a temporal sequence with appropriate lags informed by how long it takes for one step to lead to the next. Two general approaches are possible: take observations before and after each step in a process to show how a variable changes from before to after an event, or continuously monitor a variable to see how it changes as events occur. A variety of nonexperimental approaches can be used including content analysis of archival materials, direct observation, panel designs, retrospective event histories, and sequence analysis. With the quantitative approach, daily diary and experience sampling approaches can be particularly useful in studying processes that occur within‐person. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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