Fifty years of methodological trends in JIBS : Why future IB research needs more triangulation
- PDF / 844,141 Bytes
- 22 Pages / 595.276 x 790.866 pts Page_size
- 45 Downloads / 186 Views
Fifty years of methodological trends in JIBS: Why future IB research needs more triangulation Bo Bernhard Nielsen1,2 , Catherine Welch1,3 , Agnieszka Chidlow4 , Stewart Robert Miller5 , Roberta Aguzzoli6 , Emma Gardner4 , Maria Karafyllia7 and Diletta Pegoraro4 1
University of Sydney Business School, Abercrombie Building, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia; 2 Copenhagen Business School, Frederiksberg 2000, Denmark; 3 Aalto University, Espoo 00076, Finland; 4 Birmingham Business School, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TY, UK; 5 College of Business, University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas 78249, USA; 6 Durham University Business School, Durham University, Durham DH1 3LB, UK; 7 Nottingham University Business School, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG8 1BB, UK Correspondence: BB Nielsen, University of Sydney Business School, Abercrombie Building, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia e-mail: [email protected]
Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1057/s41267-020-003724) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. Received: 2 June 2019 Revised: 6 September 2020 Accepted: 8 September 2020
Abstract We analyze methodological trends in empirical research in JIBS from 1970 to 2019. Our results point to the prevalence of the following patterns: there has been an increase in the use of (1) large-scale longitudinal, cross-national datasets, (2) complex analytical techniques, including the incorporation of multiple analytical techniques within the same study, but (3) a decline in the diversity of methods in use. We relate these trends to the underlying social, technical, and communicative conventions in the journal during the 50-year period. The observed patterns are consistent with theory that posits scientific fields entrench a dominant paradigm over time, resulting in a restricted set of methodological options being selected. Such restrictions jeopardize the quality of research because the study of any phenomenon requires the use of multiple methodological procedures to avoid the systematic biases, errors, omissions, and limitations introduced by any single option. Therefore, we propose the use of triangulation as a strategy for building methodological alternatives into research designs. Institutionalization of this principle in the field of international business has the potential to enhance both the rigor and scope of future inquiry. Journal of International Business Studies (2020). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41267-020-00372-4 Keywords: triangulation; methodological rigor; methods diversity; methods complexity; IB paradigm; methodological bandwidth; methodological innovation; methodological trends
INTRODUCTION Fifty years since the founding of its main journal, international business (IB) has developed into a worldwide community of scholars with a common identity, well-established institutions, and disciplinary coherence. As a field, IB can point to substantial achievements in the form of theoretical advances, construct meas
Data Loading...
