Clean up Your Theory! Invest in Theoretical Clarity and Consistency for Higher-Impact Research

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: von Nordenflycht, Andrew
• 署名单位: Simon Fraser University
• 刊物名称: ORGANIZATION SCIENCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1047-7039
• DOI: 10.1287/orsc.2022.16122
• 发表日期: 2023
• 页码: 1981-1996
• 关键词: writing theory; constructs; propositions; construct clarity; causal diagrams; theoretical contribution

摘要

This essay starts from a concern that many empirical researchers undermine their rigorous empirical work by coupling it to unclear and inconsistent theory. I suggest this is because we underestimate the difficulty of achieving theoretical clarity and consistency. I illustrate the problem in detail by cataloging common ways we violate clarity and consistency in the articulation of theoretical constructs and relationships and illustrating these violations with examples from unpublished manuscripts. In addition, I draw on the management literature on theory writing as well as on the dual-process theory of cognition and the philosophy of science to identify and unpack three challenges to clear and consistent theory: the taxing cognitive effort required to turn ambiguous, associative intuition into logical arguments; the impossibility of achieving perfect clarity; and the existence of trade-offs between clarity and other valued qualities of theory, particularly generalizability. The implication is that researchers need to invest not just in empirical rigor but also, in theoretical rigor.