An Idiographic Approach to Organizational Behavior Research: The Use of Single Case Experimental Designs and Direct Measures

Abstract

The underlying assumptions of the dominant nomothetic (group-centered, standardized, and controlled environmental contexts, and quantitative methodologies) and idiographic (individual-centered, naturalistic environmental contexts, and qualitative methodologies) research perspectives are examined. An interactive theoretic (i.e., realpeople interacting in real organizations) for organizational behavior is suggested-a theoretic assumption that lends itself to an idiographic approach. Intensive singlecase experimental designs and direct observational measures are proposed as a potentially powerful methodology for idiographic research of organizational behavior.

A Meta-Analysis of the Effects of Organizational Behavior Modification on Task Performance, 1975-95.

“…Although we recognize the idiosyncratic value of these experiments (cf. Luthans & Davis, 1982), we treated studies with one subject as sample-size outliers and excluded them from our study. (Light, Singer, & Willett, 1994), which indicated outliers and extreme values for the entire sample of k studies.…”

Project Management Problems in Small and Medium Enterprises in Nigeria

“…Small and Medium Enterprises in most cases do not have sufficient funds to undertake projects, support their businesses and ICT infrastructure [11][12][13][14][15]. Also, there are problems such as lack of finances to engage Project Management professional staff or experts to management projects, and inability to secure sufficient facilities from banks for projects due to unavailability of collateral securities.…”

An Emic Perspective and Ethnoscience Methods for Organizational Research

“…One such dichotomy is found in the terms "idiographic" versus "nomothetic." Luthans and Davis (1982) describe a nomothetic perspective as one that is group-centered and uses standardized, controlled environmental contexts and quantitative methods to establish general laws. They describe an idiographic perspective as one that is individual-centered and uses naturalistic environmental contexts and qualitative methods to recognize the particular and unique experience of the subject.…”

“…Questionnaires also are being criticized by advocates of qualitative techniques for a variety of failings in design, results, and usability (Van Maanen, Dabbs, & Faulkner, 1982). Among the proposed alternatives, or supplements, to questionnaires has been the call for observation techniques (Dubin, 1982;Luthans & Davis, 1982). Dubin (1982), for instance, urges organizational researchers to examine their past and return to some of the more fruitful participant observation techniques that were used in classic studies in the field.…”

“…Burrell and Morgan (1979) also believe that this viewpoint needs to be added to traditional organizational research. Weick (1979) by Luthans and Davis (1982), Evered and Louis (1981), and Burrell and Morgan (1979) is that research go back and forth or proceed sequentially from one to the other.…”