¶ … simultaneously considered. In this way matters pertaining novelty, contribution, and contemporary interest will be integrated with rules of sampling, observational recording, statistical assumptions, interviewing techniques, and mathematical procedures. Theory and method should in practice be highly interrelated (Maanen, Sorensen, & Mitchell, 2007). Theories without methodological implications are more of idle speculation with minimal empirical import. Methods without theoretical backing can be sterile representing technical sophistication in isolation. Methods generate data that is used to test the plausibility or validity of theories (Maanen, Sorensen, & Mitchell, 2007).
The interplay between theory and data follows a prescribed sequence beginning with identification of a problem that is of interest to an identifiable research community followed by posing of specific research questions or hypothesis that rest on theoretical resources that a given research community possesses (Maanen, Sorensen, & Mitchell, 2007). After this, appropriate research strategies are spelled out based on either or both deductive or inductive logic. Qualitative or quantitative measures are chosen and put to work. Data is then compiled and analyzed. Method generates and shapes theory. Empirical studies generate data that is used in the theorizing process thereby allowing a study to progress as a cognitive or sense making venture that unfolds over time (Maanen, Sorensen, & Mitchell, 2007).
Theory drives method through its level of analysis, its stage of articulation, type of constructs it proposes, and its descriptive or prescriptive nature. Theory informs research design, choice of measures, and samples. Method helps to develop and enhance theory development (Maanen, Sorensen, & Mitchell, 2007).
A study that pays too much attention to t available or potentially available data is more likely to be trapped by operations. This potentially stifles theorizing. A study that, nevertheless, pays no attention to data makes the whole process of theorizing remote (Maanen, Sorensen, & Mitchell, 2007). The key here is to strike a balance...
The methods will help in verifying those covering laws (Maanen, Sorensen, & Mitchell, 2007). As theory seeks to provide novel explanations or even provoke enlightenment among knowledgeable readers by putting forth new and potentially useful constructs, method will defamiliarize and deconstruct the existing conceptual landscape and bring new classification and category schemes to the fore and question conventional domain assumptions (Maanen, Sorensen, & Mitchell, 2007). Theory will in this respect provide a step-by-step account of particular social processes and place their methods in service of showing the plausibility of various linkages involved in the constructed analytic narrative. A high quality research can only be produced when there is a fit between theory and method. In this regard a prior work in a research area should be used to design a new research project (Maanen, Sorensen, & Mitchell, 2007). This underscores the interchangeable use of quantitative and qualitative data. To overcome mismatch between theory and method set-theoretic methods that permit algebraic manipulation of proposed attributes constituting a particular configuration should be used as a methodological alternative to conventional or variable approaches (Maanen, Sorensen, & Mitchell, 2007). Such methods allow for investigation of equifinability and limited diversity. They are open to categorical and ordinal data and therefore provide a way to direct verbal statements into logical category.
Sample selection helps in theory development. Samples observed are a result of a selection process. Sampling processes generate empirical findings consistent with theoretical explanations. However, empirical data can at times be an unreliable guide for theory validation and theory generation.
To help us deeply understand why theory and method should simultaneously…
