Choosing between a rock and a hard place when data are scarce and the questions important: Reply to Hollenbeck, DeRue, and Mannor (2006)

• 成果类型: Editorial Material
• 署名作者: Peterson, RS; Smith, DB; Martorana, PV
• 署名单位: University of London; London Business School; Rice University; University of Texas System; University of Texas Austin
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0021-9010
• DOI: 10.1037/0021-9010.91.1.6
• 发表日期: 2006
• 页码: 6-8
• 关键词: TOP MANAGEMENT TEAM; personality; research methods

摘要

This article replies to J. R. Hollenbeck. D. S. DeRue, and M. Mannor's (2006) comment critiquing R. S. Peterson, D. B. Smith, P. V. Martorana, and P. D. Owens's (2003) use of a large number of statistical tests in research with a small sample. Although Hollenbeck et al.'s point of view is valid, it paints a one-sided picture of the trade-offs inherent in empirical research when data are scarce and the questions important. This reply specifically discusses the dilemmas Peterson et al. faced in conducting empirical research in a nascent area and suggests that theory development in such a situation can be well served by studies that use alternative or new methods with small samples. Theory development scholarship using small-sample research methods (e.g., case studies and Q sorting from archival sources) can be useful for stimulating ideas, theory, and research programs that can be tested with large-sample quantitative research.