Exploratory data analysis as a foundation of inductive research

Jebb, Andrew T.; Parrigon, Scott; Woo, Sang Eun

doi:10.1016/j.hrmr.2016.08.003

Cited by 167 publications

(135 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…Inductive papers might include more descriptive statistics, and use more graphical methods that go farther in exploring data than is typical in a deductive paper. There are a wealth of such techniques that can be very helpful in understanding patterns in data (see Jebb, Parrigon & Woo 2017 for overview of exploratory data analysis methods).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Lost Art of Discovery: The Case for Inductive Methods in Occupational Health Science and the Broader Organizational Sciences

Spector

2017

Occup Health Sci

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This paper makes a case for the necessity of inductive and abductive approaches to research in occupational health science and the broader organizational sciences. Three forms of scientific inference are described: induction (exploratory research that generalizes from observations), abduction (deriving explanations for observations), and deduction (confirmatory research that tests theory-derived hypotheses). It is argued that the current deductive exclusiveness in the major journals of many fields has created unintended challenges to research integrity of confirmation bias, phacking, HARKing, and the chrysalis effect. Recommendations are given for writing and reviewing research papers that adopt an inductive and/or abductive approach.Keywords Abduction . Exploratory research . Inductive research . Philosophyofscience . Research integrity . Research methods Discovery can be considered the most important aspect of scientific progress, both for the field and individual scientists. Famous scientists are generally known mostly for what they discovered, such as Einstein for relativity, Fleming for penicillin, and Newton for mechanics of motion. Although these examples are from the physical sciences, social and organizational sciences have discoveries too, for example, that goals improve performance (E. A. Locke and Latham 1990), or that introducing new work technologies can be disruptive and stressful (Trist and Bamforth 1951). These discoveries add to the knowledge base of the field, help direct future research, and are often the basis for evidence-based intervention in the field. Yet despite the fact that discovery is vitally important in science, for more than two decades, the organizational sciences have rejected discovery, considering it somehow inferior and unimportant as

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Lost Art of Discovery: The Case for Inductive Methods in Occupational Health Science and the Broader Organizational Sciences

Spector

2017

Occup Health Sci

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“…This approach resembles qualitative exploratory data analysis as we perform phenomenon detection, i.e. observing that project leaders apply a systematic model, which normally precedes theory development (Jebb et al 2016). The novelty is that we induce this phenomenon not into a completely new theory but in the implicit theory of Schön, and as a consequence, we are able to make this implicit theory explicit.…”

Section: Methods Of Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The novelty is that we induce this phenomenon not into a completely new theory but in the implicit theory of Schön, and as a consequence, we are able to make this implicit theory explicit. Jebb et al (2016) point out that inductive research can also be strongly informed by theory, because the exploration of researchers is guided by their substantive knowledge and their tacit ideas about where meaningful patterns will occur. …”

Section: Methods Of Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Leadership in innovation projects: an illustration of the reflective practitioner and the relation to organizational learning

et al. 2017

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The purpose of this conceptual article is to demonstrate that Donald Schön's Reflective Practitioner actually outlines an explicit model of the steps that project leaders in practice apply largely unaware. This reflective research model furthermore can be meaningfully combined with Argyris and Schön's model of organizational learning. The combined research and learning model can support project team members and leaders to enhance their reflectiveness and improve their project success. Eighteen project leaders of innovation teams were studied by means of in-depth interviews aimed at assessing how project leaders act when dealing with critical incidents during their projects. Based on a selection of three project leaders, an empirical illustration of Schön's model is provided: they recognized there was a problem, researched the problem, developed alternative solutions, tested different solutions and alternatives on validity, tried out and experimented with solutions, selected and applied a particular solution, and evaluated the process completed. The authors' suggestion for practitioners is applying the combined model of the reflective practitioner and organizational learning, as this can help innovation leadership in practice at both the individual and the team level. The scientific value of this contribution lies in the conversion of Schön's latent (tacit) model into a manifest (explicit) model, and by relating it to the model of organizational learning, a result emerges that is both applicable to future research and practice.

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“…Visualizations are central to EDA because the rich information they provide is unrivaled in its ability to detect data patterns [8,9]. Recently, through visualizations with histograms, several large sample studies have demonstrated that total scores on depression screening scales in the general population approximate exponential distributions, with the exception of the lower end of the distribution.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characteristic distribution of the total and individual item scores on the Kessler Screening Scale for Psychological Distress (K6) in US adults

et al. 2017

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Background: The distributional pattern of total scores on depression screening scales in the general population has not been well studied. Recent studies suggest that the total scores on depression screening scales follow an exponential pattern, with the exception of the lower end of the distribution. To further investigate the findings, we determined the distributions of the total and individual item scores on the Kessler Screening Scale for Psychological Distress (K6). Methods: Data were obtained from the National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States. Participants comprised 6,223 individuals between the ages of 25 and 74. The distributions of the total and individual item scores in various combinations were investigated with histograms and regression analysis. Results: Irrespective of the combination of items, the total and individual item scores followed an exponential pattern except at the lower scores. The estimated rate parameters of regression analysis were similar among distributions with the same number of chosen items. At the lower scores, the distributional patterns of total scores varied according to the ratio of "a little" to "none" for each item response. Conclusions: The present results have the potential to estimate the distribution of depressive symptoms in the general population. While the degree of depressive symptoms varies from individual to individual, an entire population may show a certain mathematical distribution.

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Exploratory data analysis as a foundation of inductive research

Cited by 167 publications

References 47 publications

The Lost Art of Discovery: The Case for Inductive Methods in Occupational Health Science and the Broader Organizational Sciences

The Lost Art of Discovery: The Case for Inductive Methods in Occupational Health Science and the Broader Organizational Sciences

Leadership in innovation projects: an illustration of the reflective practitioner and the relation to organizational learning

Characteristic distribution of the total and individual item scores on the Kessler Screening Scale for Psychological Distress (K6) in US adults

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