Measurement and statistics in ‘organization science’: Philosophical, sociological and historical perspectives

Zyphur, MJ; Pierides, D; Roffe, J

doi:10.4324/9780203795248

Measurement and statistics in ‘organization science’: Philosophical, sociological and historical perspectives

Lookup NU author(s): Dr Dean Pierides ORCiD

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Abstract

Measurement and statistical practices are ubiquitous across many areas of organization research. For example, in 2012 the Academy of Management Journal had an average of 89 p-values in each article (Gigerenzer and Marewski, 2015). Given this prevalence, it is unfortunate that measurement and statistics are usually deployed in ways that ignore their social and material character, instead directing attention to abstract concepts like ‘validity’, ‘truth’, and ‘objectivity’. By focusing on such concepts, researchers remain wedded to unexamined foundational assumptions with origins in now-antiquated seventeenth century philosophy (see Shapin, 1994, 1996, 2010; Williams, 2005). It is, therefore, unsurprising that existing approaches to measurement and statistics cause problems in contemporary contexts wherein these foundations are difficult to maintain.