scholarly journals Theory development requires an epistemological sea change

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iris van Rooij ◽  
Giosuè Baggio
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Research ◽  
Theory Development ◽  
Research Practices ◽  
Target Article

Up until 2019, `psychological reform' mostly meant methodological and statistical reform of empirical research practices in psychology. Since then, however, we have seen a surge of proposals for theoretical reform. While those calling for theoretical reform may agree on many things, they also do not form a monolith. One aim of the present commentary is to highlight some of this diversity by commenting on Fried's target article in this broader context.

Empirical Research on Populations of Adaptive Individuals

2020 ◽  
pp. 141-153
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Research ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Theory Development ◽  
Organization Change ◽  
Laboratory Studies ◽  
Design Studies ◽  
Entire Process ◽  
Levels Of Organization ◽  
Model Based ◽  
Multiple Levels

This chapter studies how modeling supports empirical research. The benefit of integrating modeling and empirical research has long been recognized: theorists and modelers pose hypotheses that empirical researchers then design studies to test, and empirical research informs the development of new hypotheses. Such integration may be particularly valuable in frameworks that include multiple levels of organization, from individuals to populations to communities. But does working across levels of organization change the relationships of theory, modeling, and empirical research? What kinds of field and laboratory studies do we need, and at what levels of organization, to support modeling? The chapter assesses these questions. Thinking about the relation between modeling and empirical research requires one to address the entire process of model-based research, which is usefully characterized as a modeling cycle. The chapter then explores how the kind of modeling and theory development presented in this book can contribute to empirical studies and research.

scholarly journals The effect of preregistration on trust in empirical research findings: results of a registered report

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 181351 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarahanne M. Field ◽  
E.-J. Wagenmakers ◽  
Henk A. L. Kiers ◽  
Rink Hoekstra ◽  
Anja F. Ernst ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Pilot Study ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Strong Evidence ◽  
Bayes Factors ◽  
Research Practices ◽  
Questionable Research Practices ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Research Initiatives

The crisis of confidence has undermined the trust that researchers place in the findings of their peers. In order to increase trust in research, initiatives such as preregistration have been suggested, which aim to prevent various questionable research practices. As it stands, however, no empirical evidence exists that preregistration does increase perceptions of trust. The picture may be complicated by a researcher's familiarity with the author of the study, regardless of the preregistration status of the research. This registered report presents an empirical assessment of the extent to which preregistration increases the trust of 209 active academics in the reported outcomes, and how familiarity with another researcher influences that trust. Contrary to our expectations, we report ambiguous Bayes factors and conclude that we do not have strong evidence towards answering our research questions. Our findings are presented along with evidence that our manipulations were ineffective for many participants, leading to the exclusion of 68% of complete datasets, and an underpowered design as a consequence. We discuss other limitations and confounds which may explain why the findings of the study deviate from a previously conducted pilot study. We reflect on the benefits of using the registered report submission format in light of our results. The OSF page for this registered report and its pilot can be found here: http://dx.doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/B3K75 .

categorization in artificial agents: guidance on empirical research?

2005 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 511-512
Author(s):  
william s.-y. wang ◽  
tao gong
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Research ◽  
Artificial Agents ◽  
Target Article ◽  
Color Categories

by comparing mechanisms in nativism, empiricism, and culturalism, the target article by steels & belpaeme (s&b) emphasizes the influence of communicational constraint on sharing color categories. our commentary suggests deeper considerations of some of their claims, and discusses some modifications that may help in the study of communicational constraints in both humans and robots.

The dynamical hypothesis in cognitive science

1998 ◽  
Vol 21 (5) ◽  
pp. 615-628 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tim van Gelder
Keyword(s):  
Dynamical Systems ◽  
Cognitive Science ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Computational Approach ◽  
Cognitive Systems ◽  
Cognitive Agents ◽  
Target Article ◽  
Alternative Approach ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Dynamical Hypothesis

According to the dominant computational approach in cognitive science, cognitive agents are digital computers; according to the alternative approach, they are dynamical systems. This target article attempts to articulate and support the dynamical hypothesis. The dynamical hypothesis has two major components: the nature hypothesis (cognitive agents are dynamical systems) and the knowledge hypothesis (cognitive agents can be understood dynamically). A wide range of objections to this hypothesis can be rebutted. The conclusion is that cognitive systems may well be dynamical systems, and only sustained empirical research in cognitive science will determine the extent to which that is true.

scholarly journals Exploring the Meaning of Organizational Purpose at a New Dawn: The Development of a Conceptual Model Through Expert Interviews

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ramon van Ingen ◽  
Pascale Peters ◽  
Melanie De Ruiter ◽  
Henry Robben
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Model ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Theory Development ◽  
Conservation Of Resources ◽  
Academic Knowledge ◽  
Professional Management ◽  
Template Analysis ◽  
Organizational Purpose ◽  
Person Organization Fit ◽  
And Function

Organizational purpose has flourished in the professional management literature, yet despite increased scholarly interest, academic knowledge and empirical research on the topic remain scarce. Moreover, studies that have been conducted contain important oversights including the lack of a clear conceptualization and misinterpretations that hinder the further development and understanding of organizational purpose. In view of these shortcomings, our interview study aimed to contribute to academic and societal conversations on the contemporary meaning and function of organizational purpose considering the voices and perspectives of 44 global experts. Employing template analysis, we defined organizational purpose as “an organization’s reason for being characterized by significance, aspiration, direction, unification, and motivation.” Moreover, we proposed an explanatory conceptual model, including drivers and outcomes of purpose, important boundary conditions, and explanatory mechanisms. Drawing on self-determination theory, person–organization fit theory, job characteristics theory, and conservation of resources theory, we were able to explain how and under what conditions these concepts are related to organizational purpose. In doing so, our research contributes to advancing the knowledge and understanding of organizational purpose and its effects on human lives within and outside organizations. Our study thereby enhances the understanding of the role of organizations in society and helps in evaluating whether organizations take responsibility by living their purpose in the society they are part of. As such, our study provides important insights for theory development, scale development, and further empirical research on organizational purpose and its effects in different streams such as OB, HRM, marketing, leadership, and strategy.

scholarly journals Doing things with description: practices, politics, and the art of attentiveness

2020 ◽  
pp. 146879412097597
Author(s):  
Nicole Vitellone ◽  
Michael Mair ◽  
Ciara Kierans
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Science And Technology Studies ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
Social Reality ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Research Practices ◽  
The Social

In a number of linked articles and monographs over the last decade (e.g. Love, 2010, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017), literary scholar and critic Heather Love has called for a descriptive (re)turn in the humanities, repeatedly taking up examples of descriptive methods in the social sciences as exemplifying what that (re)turn might look like and achieve. Those of us working as sociologists, anthropologists, science and technology studies scholars and researchers in allied social science fields thus find ourselves reflected back in Love’s work, encountering our own research practices in an unfamiliar light through it. In a period where our established methods and analytical priorities are subject to challenges on many fronts from within our own disciplines, it is hard not be struck by Love’s provocative invocation of the social sciences as interlocutors and see in it an invitation to contribute to the debate she has sought to initiate by revisiting our own approaches to the problem of description. Inspired by Love’s intervention, the eight papers that form this Special Issue demonstrate that by re-engaging with description we stand to learn a great deal. While the articles themselves are topically distinct and geographically varied, they are all based on empirical research and written to facilitate a reorientation to the role of description in our research practices. What exactly is going on when we describe an ancient papyrus as present or missing, a machine as intelligent, noise as music, a disease as undiagnosable, a death as good or bad, deserved or undeserved, care as appropriate or inappropriate, policies as failing or effective? As the papers show, these are important questions to ask. By asking them, we find ourselves in positions to better understand what goes into ‘indexing and making visible forms of material and social reality’ (Love, 2013: 412) as well as what is involved, more troublingly, in erasing, making invisible and dematerialising those realities or even, indeed, in uncovering those erasures and the means by which they were effected. As this special issue underlines, thinking with Love by thinking with descriptions is a rewarding exercise precisely because it opens these matters up to view. We hope others take up Love’s invitation to re-engage with description for that very reason.

scholarly journals A Decade of Empirical Research on Research Integrity: What Have We (Not) Looked At?

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 338-352 ◽  
Author(s):  
Noémie Aubert Bonn ◽  
Wim Pinxten
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Research ◽  
Empirical Data ◽  
Web Of Science ◽  
Research Integrity ◽  
Research Practices ◽  
Comprehensive Overview ◽  
Research On Research ◽  
Research Systems ◽  
System Changes

Research on research integrity has become a field of its own; yet, a comprehensive overview the field is still missing. We systematically searched SCOPUS, Web of Science, and PubMed for relevant articles published between 2005 and 2015. We extracted the topic, methodology, focus, and citations from each articles. From the 986 articles included, only 342 report empirical data. Empirical papers predominantly targeted researchers and students. Although empirical articles questioning causes for misconduct mostly blamed research systems (e.g., pressure, competition) for detrimental research practices, articles proposing approaches to foster integrity focused on researchers’ awareness and compliance rather than on system changes. Involving nonresearchers and reconnecting what is known to what is proposed may help research on research integrity move forward.

Embracing Robustness and Reliability in the Science of Organizations

2020 ◽  
Vol 46 (7) ◽  
pp. 1238-1243
Author(s):  
Gwendolyn K. Lee ◽  
Mo Wang
Keyword(s):  
Quality Control ◽  
Peer Review ◽  
Theory Development ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Research Practices ◽  
Organizational Research ◽  
Development Methodology

The science of organizations increases its credibility when it embraces research with an explicit focus on robustness and reliability. This special issue of curated commentaries recommends and illustrates how to incorporate robust and reliable research practices in organizational research. Together, these commentaries help researchers make contributions to improving every step of the research trajectory—theory development, methodology, and the process of quality control through peer review.

scholarly journals ENGLISH ARTICLE CHOICES BY VIETNAMESE EFL LEARNERS

2018 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nguyen Thi Quyen
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Universal Grammar ◽  
Semantic Features ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Target Article ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Article System ◽  
L1 And L2

This paper investigates the choice of articles by L1 (frst language) Vietnamese learners of L2 (second language) English under the framework proposed by Ionin, Ko and Wexler (2004). According to their Fluctuation Hypothesis and Article Choice Parameter, L2 learners of English whose L1 does not have articles have direct, universal grammar-mediated access to universal semantic features of the article system, i.e. defniteness and specifcity. The dual article system of English encodes defniteness, which leads L2 learners whose L1 lacks a proper article system to fluctuate between the two values of the Article Choice Parameter, that is, defniteness and specifcity. Although empirical research has been done to examine the acquisition of article system by both L1 and L2 learners as well as to validate the hypothesis, the results obtained from the research appear to be inconclusive, laying a fruitful area for further investigation. The current research was carried out with the aim to enrich L2 data with respect to the article acquisition domain and, more importantly, to examine Ionin et al.’s (2004) conclusions regarding the effect of specifcity on the choice of article. The study was also motivated by the scarcity of research looking at how Vietnamese learners of L2 English acquire the target article system.

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