The Use and Misuse of Organizational Research Methods ‘Best Practice’ Articles

This study explores how researchers in the organizational sciences use and/or cite methodological ‘best practice’ (BP) articles. Namely, are scholars adhering fully to the prescribed practices they cite, or are they cherry picking from recommended practices without disclosing? Or worse yet, are scholars inaccurately following the methodological best practices they cite? To answer these questions, we selected three seminal and highly cited best practice articles published in Organizational Research Methods (ORM) within the past ten years. These articles offer clear and specific methodological recommendations for researchers as they make decisions regarding the design, measurement, and interpretation of empirical studies. We then gathered all articles that have cited these best practice pieces. Using comprehensive coding forms, we evaluated how authors are using and citing best practice articles (e.g., if they are appropriately following the recommended practices). Our results revealed substantial variation in how authors cited best practice articles, with 17.4% appropriately citing, 47.7% citing with minor inaccuracies, and 34.5% inappropriately citing BP articles. These findings shed light on the use (and misuse) of methodological recommendations, offering insight into how we can better improve our digestion and implementation of best practices as we design and test research and theory. Key implications and recommendations for editors, reviewers, and authors are discussed.

Performing Hybridity or Deflecting Islamophobia? Adaptable Identity Management amongst Young British Pakistani Muslims

This article engages with issues of identity construction and maintenance as expressed by a group of young British Pakistanis living in the North-West of England. Drawing on primary data from a qualitative study, we examine the ways in which Muslim identities are maintained, negotiated, and protected in relation to everyday situated cultural experiences. Nested within a context in which Islamophobia is pervasive, we discuss four salient processes of identity management articulated by participants: cherry picking; strategic adaption; ambassadorship and active resistance. Whilst these processes are to be considered as porous rather than mutually exclusive, our analysis elucidates evidence of both nimble and creative individual identity management and also an entrenchment of collective pride. We posit that, for the participants in this study, such practices constitute a grounded, pragmatic response to living in an environment in which their religious beliefs, political values and cultural commitments are frequently questioned within public life, the media and the political sphere.

Advancing SDG competencies in higher education: exploring an interdisciplinary pedagogical approach

Purpose This study aims to explore an interdisciplinary pedagogical approach for advancing knowledge and understanding of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) at higher education institutions (HEIs). Design/methodology/approach This qualitative study conducted an explorative experiment to elaborate on forms to advance a pedagogical approach that embeds sustainability. The design of the pedagogical project was explorative and interdisciplinary, using a predefined framework on key competencies for sustainability. Findings The findings showed that an interdisciplinary approach can create a learning setting that stimulates students’ problem-solving competencies for sustainability-related issues. Students were trained in the five key sustainable competencies addressed by Wiek et al. (2011). Moreover, although it is not always possible to arrange an interdisciplinary pedagogical setting, this might be a key condition for the development of students’ key competencies regarding their understanding of the SDGs. Addressing the SDGs from an interdisciplinary perspective paved the way for the development of students’ strategic competencies, including systems thinking and anticipatory competencies. Practical implications The pedagogical project, as an interdisciplinary explorative experiment, was shown to be a potentially suitable method to counteract “cherry-picking” approaches to teaching the SDGs at HEI. Originality/value The pedagogical approach advanced in this paper, extends active learning and interdisciplinarity in higher education. The authors argue that this approach encourages students to take ownership of and responsibility for their learning process and indicates a changed mindset and behavior.

“My Selection of Verses Earned Me a (Bad) Reputation!”: A Reflection on Ġhālib’s Published and Unpublished Verses

The great nineteenth-century poet Mirzā Asadullāh Ḳhān Ġhālib was a strict editor of his own work. As a result, he excised more than half of the verses when he published his Urdu dīvān in 1841. Most of these so-called rejected verses have been recovered and are available in comprehensive, scholarly editions of Ġhālib’s dīvān. In this paper I have examined the dynamics of selection by comparing and analyzing, verse by verse, Ġhālib’s process of selection. I chose Ġhālib’s published ġhazal that he constructed by cherry-picking verses from two ġhazals. My conclusion is that Ġhālib’s editing was personal. While in some cases it is possible to see the reasons behind making the choice, it seems arbitrary in others.

Cherry-picking information: humans actively sample evidence to support prior beliefs

No one likes to be wrong. Previous research has shown that participants may underweight information incompatible with previous choices, a phenomenon called confirmation bias. In this paper we argue that a similar bias exists in the way information is actively sought. We investigate how choice influences information gathering using a perceptual choice task and find that participants sample more information from a previously chosen alternative. Furthermore, the higher the confidence in the initial choice, the more biased information sampling becomes. As a consequence, when faced with the possibility of revising an earlier decision, participants are more likely to stick with their original choice, even when incorrect. Critically, we show that agency controls this phenomenon. The effect disappears in a fixed sampling condition where presentation of evidence is controlled by the experimenter, suggesting that the way in which confirmatory evidence is acquired critically impacts the decision process. These results suggest active information acquisition plays a critical role in the propagation of strongly held beliefs over time.

Correction to: Cherry-picking the Wrong Patients?

A Correction to this paper has been published: 10.1007/s00062-020-00878-2

Cherry-Picking and Lemon-Dropping Lessons from Anti-Doping to Boost Abuse Prevention in Sport

Unethical behaviors in sport are a matter of global concern. The current surge in reports on abuse of athletes across Sports and all over the world is reminiscent of the doping scandals in the 1980s and 1990s that made many believe that doping was endemic in sport. This realization eventually led to a concerted effort of sport stakeholders and the founding of the World Anti-Doping Agency, which has since established itself as the world’s governing body in anti-doping with substantial influence and power. Framing the history and trajectory of anti-doping as a precedent of what has worked and what has not in righting sports’ wrongs, this review asks: what can the two-decades-long anti-doping ‘fight’ teach us about protecting athletes from abuse? Exploring various aspects from the effectiveness of external Regulation and the challenges of a centralized legalistic approach to athlete health protection and accountability, several lessons that have implications for safeguarding athletes can be identified. Behavior change is a long and demanding process for individuals and organizations. Centering athletes’ voices and lived experiences in practical research approaches while integrating multi-sector stakeholders can help ensure that methods and findings are fit-for-purpose and inform effective, sustainable athlete-safeguarding practices, programs, and policies.