orgsci-methods

Research Design & Methods (orgsci-methods)

When to trigger

• You are choosing a method, or a reviewer says the method does not fit the question
• A reviewer demands causal identification you cannot obtain
• Your level of analysis and your data source do not line up
• You are mixing methods and need to justify the combination

Match the method to the question — the journal is pluralistic

Organization Science is methodologically eclectic: it publishes qualitative and inductive fieldwork, quantitative and archival studies, experiments, computational/simulation models, and formal-analytical theory, and it does not privilege one. The design must fit the theoretical contribution and the level of analysis, not signal methodological fashion.

Theoretical goal / data structure	Design that fits
Build a new process or construct from the field	Inductive qualitative (grounded theory, ethnography, comparative cases)
Test a cross-level mechanism in nested data	Multilevel / HLM with explicit composition or contextual logic
Trace organizational founding/failure over time	Event-history / survival; panel
Isolate a behavioral mechanism	Lab or field experiment, vignette/conjoint
Explore adaptation, learning, search dynamics	Agent-based / NK simulation or formal model
Characterize an interfirm or intra-org structure	Network analysis (ERGM, centrality, brokerage)

Causal inference is valued but not required

A defining stance: causal inference is valued but "not necessary and often impossible" at this venue. Do not abandon a strong organizational question because clean identification is unavailable. Instead, support inference with research design, theoretical logic, institutional/field knowledge, and mechanism evidence — triangulation, process tracing, placebo and falsification logic, and ruling out alternative explanations. This distinguishes Organization Science from identification-first, economics-leaning venues: a transparent design with a credible mechanism beats a thin paper with a clever instrument.

Design quality that reviewers check

• Fit: the method can actually deliver the theoretical claim and operates at the right level.
• Transparency: sampling, case selection, coding scheme, manipulation, model assumptions, or parameter ranges are fully specified.
• Trustworthiness (qualitative): purposive sampling rationale, saturation, audit trail, member checks where relevant.
• Replicability: enough detail and references that others could reproduce the study; appendices carry the design detail.

Anti-patterns

• Reaching for an instrument or quasi-experiment the setting cannot support, when mechanism evidence would serve better.
• Aggregating individual data to organizational claims with no composition justification.
• A simulation with no empirical anchor or unjustified parameter ranges.
• Method chosen to look rigorous rather than to test the theory.

Methods pass for Organization Science

Use this as a second-pass capability check. First lock a level map, a mechanism paragraph, and the cover-letter contribution statement; then test whether the manuscript addresses interdisciplinary organization reviewers who ask whether the mechanism travels across levels of analysis.

• Primary move: Name assumptions, diagnostics, robustness, falsification, and failure modes; do not accept a method section that hides the decisive validity threat.
• Decision ledger: return claim / evidence / blocker / next edit rows so the next pass can patch the manuscript directly.
• Neighbor test: compare against AMJ for empirical management framing, ASQ for organization-theory depth, Management Science for formal/quantitative operations; if the neighboring outlet has the stronger audience claim, recommend re-routing before polishing.
• Submission-ready gate: before final advice, re-open resources/official-source-map.md for upload-week rules and name the one live-check item that could change the recommendation.

Output format

【Design】qualitative-inductive / multilevel / panel-EH / experiment / simulation / formal
【Level fit】matches the theoretical claim's level? cross-level logic stated?
【Inference strategy】design + logic + institutional knowledge + mechanism (not identification-only)
【Transparency/trustworthiness plan】sampling, coding, assumptions, audit trail
【Next step】orgsci-data-analysis